Charles and Logan sat in his office shortly after the exchange between Rogue and Jennifer’s parents. They were sharing a cup of tea and a quiet conversation on what had just been revealed a short time ago.
Logan leaned towards the professor, his elbows on his knees as he contemplated the older man. His voice was soft, his tone concerned as he spoke.
“Do you think you can help her?”
Charles nodded, his eyes focused somewhere beyond Logan, off into the distance as he held his cup of tea to his lips.
“Yes, I do think that we can begin to make some progress now.” He took a sip of tea, a grimace crossing his face at its taste as he focused on the room and its other occupant again. “I wish I had been aware that Jennifer’s personality was hindering my efforts. I might have saved Marie a great deal of pain.”
Logan sighed, sitting back against the cushions of the sofa as he rubbed a hand across his face tiredly. Recent events in the mansion had pushed everyone to their limits. Even he, with his unique abilities found himself struggling against the fatigue and stress. He had no wish to see Xavier increase his own burden because of some misplaced thought that they might have been able to predict or prevent what had happened.
“We’re on foreign territory here Chuck. It ain’t exactly like each mutant comes with a manual about their powers.”
Xavier smiled sadly, setting his cup aside.
“Of course I realize that here.” He tapped his head. “But I am still having a hard time accepting it here.” He tapped his heart.
Logan tried again.
“But we caught in time; we can still help her.”
Charles smiled and nodded, a hopeful light coming into his eyes.
“Yes, we can. I will begin work as soon as Jennifer’s parents retire for the night. I think that in the morning we will see a very different person in our Marie.”
Logan nodded, hope filling his voice.
“Let’s hope so.”
Over the next several days, the professor’s prediction proved very accurate. After just one session with Charles, everyone noticed a significant change in Marie’s behavior and mental state. For the first time in a long time, she was heard laughing around the mansion. And she was seen interacting with her fellow students once more.
As for Jennifer’s parents, they insisted in staying at the mansion for another couple of days. They were seen spending a great deal of time with the young woman; doing their best to help heal the wounds they’d all suffered in light of the tragedy. They also told the professor that they wanted to be sure that Marie was well on the way to recovery before they left.
Soon after Jennifer’s parents left, the professor decided that the time had come for Marie to begin actively learning how to control her powers. To help her, he enlisted Logan and Ororo. It would be up to Logan to teach her to control her strength and it would be Ororo’s responsibility to help her learn to fly.
Logan for one was very glad to see the change in her. He’d spent many nights, sitting in the dark of Ororo’s room, awake in her bed, worrying about her. His mind spinning madly but still unable to find a way to help her get over what happened. And now that they understood exactly what was going on, she was finally getting the help she so desperately needed.
But despite the joy he felt at her sudden change, he wasn’t able to relish it. Because Logan found his schedule suddenly very full. Between his regular classes with Ororo and the other students, he now found himself personally training both Jimmy and Rogue. He was spending a great deal of time in a classroom, and even more outside of it thinking about his students and how best to train them.
There were many nights that he came late to Ororo’s bed and simply fell asleep as she talked about her day and her progress with teaching Rogue to fly. But she never complained and he always awoke to find her in his arms, wrapped around him like a second skin.
A month passed for the residents of the mansion; a month that was relatively peaceful for them. There were no missions, no emergency calls to Xavier’s office and most importantly, no further tragedies to mar the passage of time.
And in that time, Marie progressed rapidly in gaining control of her strength; her progress astounding even Logan. It was simply a matter of being aware of what she could do and pulling some of it back into herself. In other words, she had to learn a new level of control over body. But with Logan’s help and patience, that grasp of control came quickly. The same could not be said for her flying.
In the month that had passed since Jennifer’s parents visited, Rogue had made little progress in learning how to fly. Even after repeated sessions with the weather witch, she still only managed to lift a few inches from the ground. They had reached a stumbling block inside of the girl that no one could seem to breech.
Ororo had tried countless scenarios and techniques to draw out the secret of Marie’s control and all had failed. They were both becoming quite frustrated with the whole damned mess.
That was when Ororo decided to try something she had not thought to try before for fear that it was far too extreme. But they had exhausted all other possibilities and she was fast running out of options.
So, one bright wintry morning, Ororo and Marie were outside once more, behind the mansion while Ororo again told Marie how she was able to fly.
“My powers of flight come from my ability to use the environment around me to free me from the pull of Earth’s gravity. In short, I use the very winds themselves to take flight. You however, I think use something very different from that.”
Marie frowned slightly.
“Ah think so.”
Ororo smiled mentally knowing that they had gone over this again and again and never come up with a solution. She could practically feel the young girl’s frustration. So this time, she decided to try a new train of conversation.
“Do you have access to Jennifer’s memories? Perhaps there is something there that can help you to control your flight.”
Marie shook her head, sighing loudly.
“No, when the professor locked her away inside my head, he locked away nearly everything. Ah don’t think it would help much. She didn’t seem to have any idea how she did it. It’s like she just thought it and she flew. Ah don’t think she thought about it a lot.”
Ororo nodded. The professor had suggested nearly the exact same thing when she had spoken to him earlier in the day.
“Then we shall just see what can come up with. Close your eyes and we shall begin.”
For nearly an hour they worked on finding the mental release switch that would allow Rogue to lift off from the ground. Ororo’s voice droned on and on, her tone soothing and hypnotic as she tried desperately to relax Marie’s mind enough to simply let go and fly. But it didn’t seem to help; the young girl managed to do little more than lift a few inches off the ground once again.
After her latest failure, Rogue couldn’t hide her disappointment. She dropped back to the ground, an exasperated and frustrated expression on her face.
“Ah’ll never get the hang of this.”
Ororo chuckled at the whiny tone of her voice as she draped her arm around Rogue’s shoulders.
“Give it time Marie. It will come.”
“Maybe. But I think Ah’m missing something. It’s small but important. Ah feel like its right on the tip of my brain.”
“Then perhaps that is enough for today.”
Rogue groaned slightly as she stretched.
“Alright. Ah feel like someone ran over me with a Mac truck.”
Ororo chuckled steering her charge back towards the mansion.
“Just give me a few moments and we will go into the kitchen and get something to eat.”
Rogue nodded. “Sounds good to me.”
Ororo left the young girl and lept into the air, closing her eyes at the sheer pleasure she felt at immersing herself in the air currents around her. She twirled in the air letting herself relax and simply feel the winds and weather currents buffeting around her. She reached out with her mind, touching that part of herself to the weather and the goddess around her as she sailed through the air.
Below her, Rogue sat on the ground trying to relax and ease the tension brought on by the intense session she’d just going through. She stared up Ororo in wonder, watching the older woman sail through the air with an ease and skill she envied. She hoped to be able to fly like that herself one day.
She let her head rest on her drawn up knees as she watched the older woman spin lazily through the air, seemingly relaxed and at ease in the air. Rogue smiled as Ororo continued to float in the air. For a moment she let her mind wander as she daydreamed about her first flight.
She could feel the air rushing past her skin, her hair whipping in the breeze as she lost herself in the daydream, a small smile floating on her face.
A sudden strangled cry snapped her back to reality and she looked up in horror as Ororo suddenly flinch, letting out another strangled groan as she grabbed herself around the abdomen. A split second later, she fell from the sky.
Rogue leaped to her feet, adrenaline surging through her as she reacted without thought.
“Storm!” Rogue shouted loudly in horror, leaping into the air without thinking, racing to catch her. She caught her a few feet from the ground, the older woman’s heavier body catching her by surprise, slamming into her and knocking her out of the sky. Rogue compensated slightly, managing to cushion the impact slightly and keep Ororo from being injured.
Her first landing was anything but graceful as she landed on her back with a resounding thud and a loud grunt, cradling the larger woman with her own body. She sat there for a second, regaining her senses, slightly stunned by what had happened. She sat up, setting Ororo down gently as a new wave of terror took her over.
She reached out to touch Ororo gently, her face full of the terror of what might have happened if she hadn’t been there.
“Storm, are you okay?” She stood, intending to go get help. “Hang on, Ah’ll get Logan and Hank.” She felt a hand grab her leg and looked down to see Ororo smiling gently back up at her. She froze.
“I am all right Marie. I must apologize for my ruse. I wondered if perhaps you needed something beyond your own desire to fly to pull you into the air.”
Rogue looked at her in disbelief. She had never expected the devious nature she’d just seen in the mutant. Not even after everything that Logan had told her about the subject.
“Ororo, that wasn’t funny.”
Ororo stood, brushing herself off slightly as she met Rogue’s eyes.
“No, it was not meant to be. But it did work.”
Rogue felt a slight wave of anger building in an instant, only to feel it being washed away in the next. She started as she realized what she’d just done.
“Oh my god, it did. Ah flew; Ah didn’t even think, Ah just flew.”
Ororo chuckled again.
“What did it feel like?”
Rogue shrugged, realizing that she couldn’t remember.
“Ah don’t know it all happened so fast, Ah didn’t even get a chance to enjoy it. Ah wonder if it’ll still work?”
Ororo smiled once more and lifted herself off the ground once more
“Let us find out shall we?”
After some trial and error, Rogue lifted herself into the air and began moving around. Her movements were hesitant and shaky. And from the ground she looked like a sick duck. However, it didn’t diminish the sheer joy she felt at what she had accomplished. But she wanted more and tried to push Ororo to take the lesson further.
Ororo shared her enthusiasm and excitement; after all it taken them a month to break through the block that had kept the young mutant tied to the ground. But she also knew that Rogue would end up hurt if she pushed too hard, too quickly.
She had watched Rogue staring at her in awe earlier as she flew. It hadn’t been all that difficult to read her thoughts. After all, from her perspective, Ororo made it look so easy. She knew that many others thought her control over her abilities was something magical; something that she had attained overnight.
But Ororo knew the truth; control and skill took time to build and learn. There was no magic formula, no short cuts. It was simply the result of her will, knowing her own abilities and limitations and a lot of work. In time, Rogue would gain that control as well.
So, knowing this, and knowing what was in Rogue’s mind, she called a halt to the lesson for the day. Drawing an immediate protest from her student.
“But Ah want to keep going.”
Ororo draped her arm around Marie’s shoulders and drew her back towards the mansion. She smiled, touching her head to Marie’s as she gave her a gentle squeeze, empathizing with her.
“I know that very well Rogue. But you need rest, and time for the skills to come. If we keep pushing, you might end up getting hurt.”
Marie blew out her breath in an exasperated sigh as they reached the doorway.
“And Ah was just starting to have some fun with it.”
Ororo reached out to open the door only to have it open for her. She looked up to see Logan’s familiar form filling the doorway.
“Chuck said I’d find you out here.” He looked at Marie. “How’d the lesson go?”
Ororo let go of Marie as she stepped away, a new burst of excitement animating her young body.
“Ah finally flew Logan.”
Logan’s smirked, an indulgent expression on his face as he stepped out of the doorway.
“Yeah? Bet that was somethin’ ta see.”
She shrugged slightly.
“Not the first one; seeing’s how Ah had to catch Ororo before she became yard pizza.”
Ororo groaned inwardly looking at Logan’s face, hoping he wouldn’t overreact.
Logan had been reaching into his pocket for a cigar when her words hit him. He looked up at her, a strange expression on his face.
She shrugged slightly trying to make him understand what she’d been trying to do.
“Yard pizza?”
“Yeah, she tricked me into flyin’ by pretendin’ she was injured. She fell outta the sky like a rock.”
Logan never took his eyes off of Ororo as Rogue spoke.
“Sounds like ya had an interestin’ time.”
Rogue looked at Logan for a moment. There was a puzzled expression on her face. Almost as if she were wondering why he hadn't exploded yet or asked for a more detailed explanation.
“Yeah we did. Ah’m just gonna go inside and feed my face before Ah keel over. Ah’ll see ya’ll later.”
She practically ran into the house, nearly slamming the door behind her.
Leaving Ororo behind with Logan to explain the whole damned thing. Of course one look at Logan’s face told Ororo that she really had no need to explain a thing.
“So ya fell outta the sky huh?”
Ororo chuckled slightly, stepping closer to him as he wrapped his arms around her.
“We had tried everything I could think of to get past her mental block. I wanted to try something where she did not have any time to think; only enough to react.”
He chuckled, the cigar hanging out of the side of his mouth.
“Damned clever of ya darlin’.”
“You really think so?”
“Yeah. Glad it worked. Chuck was just about beating his brains out tryin’ to help you with this one.”
“I am glad that he will no longer have to worry about this particular problem. So where are you headed tough guy?”
He chuckled at the nickname and at the seductive tone she used when she said it.
“I’m goin’ into the garage for a bit. Scott and I are finally makin’ headway on that damned engine. I just gotta go check to see if he ordered the right part. I’ll be back in a minute to have lunch with ya if yer interested.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him softly as she smiled.
“I would enjoy that immensely.”
“Be back in just a minute then.”
Ororo turned to watch him walk away before heading into the mansion for lunch.
Logan stepped into the garage, putting his unlit cigar back into his pocket as he flicked on the lights. He tensed at a slight scuffling noise off to his left, his instincts roaring to life as he focused on what he’d heard. He moved slowly, silently towards it, his eyes darting around the area, looking for the source.
It had come from the back corner where he had stored the bike he’d commandeered from Scott some time ago. The corner was poorly lit and hidden by a partial wall that had been erected for no specific purpose that he knew of. But he’d put it there in the hopes that if Ororo didn’t see the damned machine, then she couldn’t pester him about another ride in the middle of winter. Now though it was providing someone a very good hiding spot.
He sniffed lightly and felt his lips curling away from his fangs as he recognized the fresh scent coming from the corner. He stepped around the wall and came face to face with Remy, standing over the motorcycle.
Remy looked up at him as he came around the wall, a guilty expression on his face.
Logan looked at him for a moment, waiting for an explanation.
Remy stayed silent.
So Logan decided to start the conversation.
“Ya weren’t seriously considerin’ blowin’ up another set of my tires, were ya Swamp Rat?” The tone of his voice was neutral and light. But inside a small wave of rage was building.
Remy stepped forward, chuckling slightly and shrugging.
“It be a joke Logan, a harmless joke among friends.” The sarcasm in Remy’s voice was unmistakable as he spread his hands innocently in front of him.
Logan felt his lips pull back, baring his fangs as he smiled evilly back at him. He stepped forward, his posture threatening violence.
Remy stood his ground.
“A joke huh? This is all a joke to ya isn’t it?”
Remy smiled, laughing softly, the glint in his eyes going beyond anger and rage. It covered his face with a cool, icy mask.
Logan knew in that moment that if Remy had the chance, the young man would gladly see him maimed or worse. There was something more to all of this than just simple righteous anger; something more than just dislike of the man sleeping with his sister. This was a cool anger, a cold hatred and it went bones deep.
In that moment Logan knew there was no argument that would get through something that intense. There was nothing he could say or do to make those feelings go away. Once hatred and anger had gone cold, it was nearly impossible to control or even rationalize away. Once hatred and anger had gone cold, it was ingrained and set in stone. Once anger and hatred had gone cold, it lasted almost forever. Logan could relate.
So he did the only thing he knew to do. He grabbed the young man intending to intimidate him, even scare him enough to get him to back off.
He watched Remy’s eyes widen slightly as Logan grabbed him in a vise like grip, his hands twisting the collar of his trenchcoat, holding him close. He smiled slightly as he spoke quietly to Remy.
“Yer wearin’ my patience thin, bub. I don’t know what I coulda done ta piss ya off but let’s be honest. We both know that me sleepin’ with Ororo ain’t the reason behind this hatred ya got for me. Ya’ve had it in for me the moment you found out we were seein’ each other.
“Most guys who’ve done what you’ve done to me would be dead by now. I don’t hold grudges, I don’t waste time being angry, I just make people bleed. But yer Ro’s brother and I would hate to break her heart by breakin’ you. So this time I’m just gonna warn ya. You are two steps from being gutted. And trust me when I say, I won’t feel anything when I do it.
Ya wanna hate me? Fine that’s yer business. But yer gonna do it quietly and without doing all this petty shit to piss me off, ya got that? Cause if ya don’t stop, I’m gonna have ta bust you up a bit. Not enough ta kill ya, just enough to make ya hurt. If you keep comin’ at me, I’ll make it hurt a little more. Do we understand each other?”
Remy nodded. “Remy understands.”
Logan smiled again and pulled back, on the verge of letting him go when he felt and smelled Ororo come up behind them.
“Logan, please put my brother down.”
Logan cursed under his breath; he’d been so caught up in what he was doing that he hadn't even heard her come in the damn building.
To anyone else, she would have sounded calm, serene even. But Logan knew that she wasn’t. He could hear the underlying anger in her voice and smell the rising ozone in the room that told him she was dangerously close to lashing out.
He did as she asked and released Remy, stepping back away from him.
He heard the click of her boot heels as she walked up to the two of them. The noise punctuated the anger he smelled rolling off of her and he sighed softly.
She stood between them, looking at both of them as she held herself stiffly, almost statue-like. She looked at Remy then at Logan, her face smooth as silk, but flames of anger were dancing in her eyes.
“What in Goddess’s name is going on in here?” She fixed her enraged gaze on Logan, waiting for an explanation.
He shrugged, never taking his eyes off of Remy as he spoke.
“Nothin’ ‘Ro, Remy and I just had a disagreement.”
Ororo didn’t bother to hide her disbelief.
“A disagreement? Really? Then why were you holding him over a foot in the air Logan?”
He shrugged.
“Ask him.”
Ororo turned her intense gaze to her brother.
“Remy?”
Remy’s gaze was locked on Logan and was just as intense as the feral mutant’s. There was no doubt of the hostility there.
“It was a disagreement, dat is all.”
Ororo looked from one to the other weighing their words as she stood there radiating fury and anger at their behavior.
Logan and Remy continued to stare at each other.
“Remy, come with me. We are going to have a talk.”
The tone of her voice was midnight soft and brooked no argument. Neither man wanted to test the edge of her anger.
Remy nodded and followed her from the garage.
Logan listened to her retreating footfalls feeling a bit of relief that she hadn’t targeted that intense anger at him. But his relief was short lived when the sounds of her steps stopped as she reached the door.
“And Logan, you and I shall talk later.” With those clipped words, she left.
Behind her, Logan sighed loudly, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He was going to need a drink in a little while; a really large, strong drink.
Ororo led Remy to another part of the mansion where she hoped to have some privacy for the argument she had hoped she wouldn’t be forced to have with him. She stomped through the halls, the sharp click of her heels echoing throughout the wing of the mansion.
She was angry, at Logan, at Remy, at the whole damned situation. She had known that they didn’t get along very well. She would have to have been blind not to see the tension between the two of them. But she had hoped that they would somehow work out their differences.
The prank war begun by Remy when he blew up the Thanksgiving turkey had inspired a ray of hope. For a short period of time they had behaved as if they might actually manage to bury the hatchet between them. Now she was no longer so sure.
She knew they couldn’t help it, being who they were. Remy was her brother and he had always done his best to look out for her, even when she had wished he’d butted out. He was loyal to a fault and could never seem to keep his nose out of her life or the other people in it. She often wondered if all brothers acted like him or if she had somehow gotten lucky.
And Logan, well Logan was something else entirely. He was just as possessive, just as fiercely loyal as Remy. If someone insulted or threatened him or someone he cared about, he would wade in and knock a few heads together more often than not. But he tempered those instincts with certain people.
Despite his savage and sometimes unpredictable nature, there was a sense of caution about Logan at times. He was by no means stupid and in the past many of the things that Remy had said and done to him would have inspired Logan to violence; if he had been anyone other than her brother.
Logan knew very well that she would never forgive him if he hurt her brother; at least in so far as he deserved it. The things that Remy had done so far had been small and petty and not worth getting angry over; especially when Logan knew that he was risking her wrath. So she found herself wondering just what had happened between them to spark such rage in Logan. Rage that he knew very well she would not approve of.
Ororo opened a door to another room and ushered Remy inside. She closed the door quietly behind her taking a moment to gather her thoughts and to calm the wave of anger she felt inside.
She turned to look at him as he sat down, absent mindedly shuffling a deck of cards.
“What is going on Remy?”
Again Remy tried to downplay the incident.
“As da Wolverine said, not’ing but a disagreement.”
Ororo sat across from him, a frown marring her face.
“Do you take me for a fool dear brother?”
Remy sighed, putting the deck of cards in his pocket.
“No, Remy does not tink you are a fool.”
“Then stop treating me like I am stupid and tell me what the hell is going on between you and Logan.”
Remy hesitated slightly before replying.
“Remy and Logan do not get along.”
Ororo snorted loudly her reply thick with sarcasm.
“Really, I had no idea.”
Now a flash of anger lit Remy’s eyes as he pointed an accusing finger at her.
“Dis not funny Ororo. Remy knows dat he is sleeping in your bed.”
Ororo could not hide her surprise at that statement. Her mind began racing, wondering if somehow he had found out or overheard her conversation with Jean. She decided to play dumb.
“What would give you that idea?”
One look at his face told her that it wouldn’t work; he knew too much.
“Remy came to your room one night. Remy needed to talk to you about Rogue. Remy found Logan in your bed, sleeping next to you, his arm wrapped around you. Remy did not like it.”
She sighed loudly, standing as she began to pace the room. He’d found out on his own but that still didn’t explain just why in the Goddess’s name he was trying to incite Logan into violence.
“Is that the only reason you do not like him, because we are having sex?”
“No, dat is not da only reason.” And he said no more.
Ororo reached up to rub her temples feeling a headache blossoming behind her eyes as she fought the urge to reach out and strangle him until he talked.
“Obviously. But since you are my brother and he is my lover, I must ask again, what is going on?”
“Remy does not trust him!”
Ororo turned back to face him, another flash of anger hitting her as the skies over the mansion darkened and thunder began to rumble overhead.
“That does not give you the right to attack him! I told you before Remy that I am a grown woman. I have earned the right to decide what to do with my life and who I spend my time with.”
Remy stood now, his face inches from her as they shouted at one another.
“He is not good enough for you.”
Ororo didn’t even bother to reign in either her anger or her powers as she matched him shout for shout.
“Why, because he is not who you might have chosen for me?”
“He is Assassin!”
She stood there in disbelief. His enraged accusation had nearly erased the anger she was feeling. Of all the things that he might have said, she had not expected that stark accusation. And now, she realized that she should have. Everything began to click into place.
“You cannot be serious. You are against me being with him because some damned outdated bayou code?”
Remy crossed his arms over his chest and simply glared at her.
“Tieves and Assassins are enemies. Dey have been for as long as da guilds have existed. Dey do not date. You are Tief, he is Assassin.
Ororo ran a hand through her hair feeling an overwhelming urge to begin ripping it out in frustration.
“You are behaving like a fool Remy. He is not Assassin. He may have been a hired killer at one time in his life, but that does not make him Assassin.”
Remy sneered. “Once an Assassin, always an Assassin.”
Ororo threw her hands in the air as the storm clouds began building outside the mansion once more.
“Damn you for a close minded fool Remy. Would it make any difference in your mind if I told you that he is in love with me?”
Remy shook his head violently. Once, twice refusing to believe.
“Non. He is a liar.”
Ororo stepped closer to him and he refused to meet her gaze.
“And if I told you that I loved him?”
His face whipped around to hers and she could see a wave of panic wash across it.
“Tell Remy dat is not true. Tell him dat you do not love dis man.”
Ororo reached out, touching his shoulders trying to make him understand, to make him see just what she felt for Logan.
“I do love him Remy, I do. With everything I am, I love him.”
Remy pulled away from her, his face enraged as he once again pointed an accusing finger at her.
“Dammit Ororo, when our pere hears of dis…”
She cut him off.
“He will what Remy? I am a grown woman and I am in love with someone who makes me so very happy. Why must you be so angry? Can you not simply be happy for me? I never thought I would find someone to love me again after Forge left. And now I have and you are making me insane with your overbearing nature.”
Remy scoffed, his low muttered words were perfectly audible.
“Says da woman who would make a gator look pleasant.”
“Stop being snide.” She snapped back. “Can you not simply be happy for me?”
Again the violent head shake. “Non, I cannot.”
Ororo sighed as she simply gave up. There was just no way to convince him and she no longer had the strength to force the issue.
“Then I am sorry for you; more than I can say.”
“And if Remy said dat you had a choice?” Remy’s voice was quiet but firm as he spoke.
Ororo couldn’t hide her confusion.
“A choice? How can I choose who I love?”
Remy stepped towards her.
“If Remy said dat you had a choice, would you choose?”
Her eyes widened as she realized what he was saying. She shook her head at him.
“Remy do not do this.”
He reached her, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her slightly as he spoke.
“If Remy said dat you had a choice between dis man and him, who would you choose?”
Ororo shook her head again and again not wanting to believe that Remy could hate someone so much that he would ever force her to make a choice. Her voice was strained and pleading as she tried to make him understand.
“Do not make me choose Remy. You are my brother, he is the man I am in love with. Either way I choose, I lose. If you really truly loved me, you would not force that pain upon me.”
His face and voice were hard and unforgiving as he pressed the issue.
“Choose Ororo.”
Ororo shook him off, feeling her own anger rising as looked at him.
“Remy, I love you. But I do not plan to spend the rest of my life making you happy while I am miserable. I am sorry.”
Remy could not hide the disbelief or the pain that her words caused him.
“You would choose him over Remy, your own brother?”
Ororo turned away from him, walking to the window as she once again asserted control over her emotions and her powers. Her voice was soft and filled with pain at what he had just done.
“I never made it a choice Remy, you did.”
Behind her, Remy stomped towards the door enraged at her and Logan both.
“He will hurt you Ororo. He will stomp on your heart and laugh while he smashes it to pieces. And dis time, Remy not be around to help you put it back toget’er again.” He slammed the door behind him.
Ororo stood at the window looking out into the sky, unshed tears shining in her brilliant eyes as the skies around the mansion let loose and a light misty rain began to fall.
Logan stood inside the garage cleaning up when he heard the rain let loose and begin to fall. The weather had been bright and sunny and unseasonably warm with no call for rain or snow. He swore violently as he realized what the most likely reason for rain might be. Somehow Remy had upset Ororo. He stormed out of the garage and ran to the mansion to track her down.
As he stormed through the mansion, trying to follow her scent, he felt the anger come alive inside him at what Remy had done. It wasn’t enough for the damned Cajun to come at him and piss him off, no. He had to get Ororo involved, one of the few defenders he had. Logan realized that if he hadn’t wanted to rip the man apart before, he was more than eager to do so now.
A few minutes later, he stood outside the room where she had taken Remy. He could smell the rain inside the room and he knew that he’d been right. Remy had made her cry. He reached out and opened the door, stepping into the room.
She didn’t look at him; she just continued to stand at the window and gaze out into the sky.
He walked up to her quietly and stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her, resting his hands on her hips.
She sighed and relaxed against him accepting the comfort he offered.
“We need to have a talk darlin’.” His voice was quiet; letting her know that he was there to listen, but not pushing, not prying.
“I know and I am sorry for anything Remy might have done to deserve your anger.” She sighed and he could smell the tears drying up as she pushed them back down inside of her.
“Just like that and you’re apologizing for him?” Logan couldn’t keep the surprise out of his voice at her words.
She turned to face him, a small sad smile on her face. She touched his face gently, seeming to get a lot of reassurance from the affectionate gesture.
“I know my brother Logan and I know you. If you were threatening him, you more than likely had reason to. I am just sorry that he felt the need to goad you to it in the first place.”
He reached up and touched her face, gently wiping away the tears as his eyes bored into hers. He let them fill with the love in his heart even as he pushed down the rage he was feeling; he didn’t want her to see it shining in his eyes.
“’Ro, you all right?”
She shrugged.
“I will be. But for now, would you just hold me?”
“You don’t even have to ask darlin’.” He chuckled as he drew her to a nearby sofa and lay down on it.
She lay across him, her head against his chest listening to his heartbeat as he stroked her hair.
There was silence for several moments before Logan asked the question he already knew the answer to.
“You and Remy have a fight?”
She nodded, looking up at him.
“Yes we did. You were right; he has a problem with me dating you. Which was made all the worse when he discovered that not only were we sleeping together but that we are in love with each other as well.”
Knowing how Remy had been with him simply sleeping with her, he could only imagine how enraged that news had made him.
“He said something pretty nasty didn’t he?”
Again there was a sad sigh from her.
“Yes he did. But he always did have a fiery temper. I am hoping that he did not really mean what he said. And given enough time, he will cool off and realize that what he wanted was not only unfair but unrealistic as well.”
Logan felt something click and realized that this was probably worse than he’d thought.
“He made ya choose between us didn’t he?” He murmured. He could feel her lip quiver slightly against his chest and silently cursed Remy for being such an ass.
“Yes he did.” Her soft reply belied the pain those words caused. But outside the rain began to fall harder telling him just how much her brother had hurt her.
“Ororo, I never meant for this to happen. I don’t want to cause you problems with your brother.”
She took a deep breath, taking control of herself and looked up at him.
“It does not matter anymore Logan. His anger does not change what is between us.” She looked down, suddenly unsure, her voice soft and low. “Does knowing that he made me make a choice make you love me any less?”
He reached out and touched her face gently, raising her eyes to meet his.
“’Course not.” How could she even think such a thing? He made a promise to himself that if he ever got a hold of Remy, he was going to beat the hell out of him for what he’d just done. And there was nothing that she could say that was going to stop it either.
Again, she took a deep breath and this time he could see her gain control. Outside the sky began to clear once more.
“Then do not worry about Remy’s problem. He will just have to figure it out for himself.” She settled back against his chest.
There was silence for several more moments as both were lost in thought.
“Darlin’?”
“Yes Logan?”
“Would ya still be mad if I tell ya that I don’t particularly care ‘bout his problem?”
Ororo looked up a sad smile on her face at the question.
“No Logan not really. It is his problem not ours.”
“Good.” And he lay back in silence, offering the simple comfort of his embrace and love to sooth her.
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