A Feral Repose (part 5)
When Storm awoke the mid-September sun had already risen. She couldn't believe she'd slept so late, nor believe she'd slept through Logan awakening and leaving her side without stirring her.
She sat up and looked about the area as she let herself come fully awake. Ororo took a deep breath inhaling the heavy morning air, then yawned and stretched her arms above her head feeling oddly content.
She moved off the bedding and as she stood up to her full height, stretching her back with a gentle arch, she looked skyward. It was going to be another beautiful day although, she was sure, another scorcher.
She leaned forward against Logan's rock, standing on the tips of her toes to peer over it, searching for him. She scanned the area on the opposite side carefully, toward the river bank and back to the treeline. There was no sign of him anywhere nearby.
With a sigh, she turned around and leaned her back against the large boulder looking toward the path. Then an idea hit her. Storm looked down at the ground trying to determine which of his footprints in the dirt were the freshest. If she could tell them apart she could follow them.
The thought amused her and she smiled to herself. Did she actually believe, with no tracking experience whatsoever, that she would be able to find the Wolverine by following any tracks or signs that he might've left behind?
Ororo shook her head; a soft smile upon her lips, as she crouched down to touch her fingertips to the shallow imprint in the soft, warm earth at her feet. Only a moment's reflection then she stood up. As she rose, Ororo took a deep breath preparing to shout for him.
"Lo...!"
That was as far as she'd gotten when he dropped down beside her, startling her. She drew in a terrified breath, gasping loudly and jumping back a bit. Logan looked at her, his expression neutral. But the sparkle in his eyes told her that he thought that was amusing.
"Logan!" Storm scolded, only half serious. "You startled me!"
He just stood looking at her, until she settled down and offered him a smile. One corner of Logan's mouth turned up slightly and he gave her a crooked grin.
"Where have you been?" 'Ro asked, the inflection of her words caught his attention. He didn't know what she'd said, but he took a step toward her and that's when Ororo noticed he was holding one hand behind his back.
"What are doing, Logan?" she asked curiously, trying to hold a nervous smile in place. "Do you have something there?"
As Logan took his step toward her, she took half a step back. He scanned her quickly, always taking note of every movement. His expression softened again as he offered another smirk and it was Storm's turn to tilt her head in wonder.
This time Ororo held her spot as Logan took another step closer. She watched him warily as he withdrew his hand from behind his back producing two ripe apples. Seeing her face light up, he offered them to her with a grin.
Ororo happily took the fruit from his hand and took a bite. She groaned with the pleasing, refreshing taste. Logan watched her with bright eyes and when she noticed Ororo clutched the apples to her chest.
Showing pleasure in the proffered breakfast with all the drama of a stage actress, moaning and gasping and reaching out to him, her eyes closing in pretend ecstasy. Logan wasn't sure what to make of her performance, but it was amusing and he watched with great interest as his smirk grew into an actual smile... teeth and all.
When Ororo stopped, looking over at Logan to see if she was entertaining him at all, she was shocked to see the wide, genuine smile on his face. She looked into those eyes and recognized the man, trapped within, looking back at her. His pupils, now dilated only half the size they'd been the past few days, made the clear blues seem so intense.
Ororo wrapped one hand around Logan's upper arm and, without a word, led him down the path once more. She offered him a bite of her apple, feeling a bit romantic. He accepted her offering, sinking his huge fangs into the flesh of the fruit - his jaws snapping solidly shut - and snapping off half the apple with a loud crack that made her think of lightning hitting a tree, she was extremely thankful she hadn't gotten her fingers in the way.
Then he was off again, leaving her to lag behind as he playfully disappeared and reappeared in and out of the brush, crossing over the path in front of her every few minutes.
McCoy could feel the tension building up inside him as the morning turned to afternoon. But he forced himself to sit quietly, trying to relax.
He was sitting on a rock at the edge of the field, where the nearby trees offered some shade from the noonday sun. Kurt stood nearby, in a shaded patch of grass right next to him.
Hank could tell that Nightcrawler was feeling a little tense too. He stood as still as a statue, staring at the spot where the path disappeared into the shaded darkness of the forest.
Kurt shifted his weight from one leg to the other and let out a sigh. It felt like he'd been standing there forever. He shifted again, then dropped into a more comfortable position.
Nightcrawler, like Wolverine, was always more comfortable crouching on his haunches, so he squatted down and tried to be as patient as Dr. McCoy appeared to be. His anxiety, however, was clearly being advertised by the almost constant sweeping of his tail. Once in a while, out of boredom, he’d look to see what Bobby was doing.
Iceman, unlike his two companions, couldn’t sit still while he waited. He had to keep moving. Trying to ease his own anxiety he strolled around the large open area, stopping here and there to look at the flora before moving on.
It took him about twenty minutes to circumnavigate the perimeter and make his way back to Nightcrawler and Beast. When he got within normal voice range, his impatience poured out of him in a string of questions - which Hank politely did his best to answer.
“When are they going to get here?”
“It should be anytime.”
“What if they don’t come this way?”
“If they’re heading home, Ororo will be sure to lead him in this direction.”
“What if he won’t come with her?”
“We’ll have to wait and see.”
“Do you think he’ll know who we are?”
“We can only hope.”
“Do you think he’s talking yet?”
“I really can’t say.”
“Do you think he’ll come back with us?”
“Bob?”
“Yeah?”
“We’ll just have to wait and see.”
“But…”
“We’ll do the best we can.”
~ sigh ~
Kurt had spun around on his toes to watch and listen to the volley of questions and answers. His head turned to each man in turn as if he was watching a tennis match.
When the questions finally dried up Bobby let out a sigh and pulled a leaf off the tree he was standing under. Kurt watched him as the Iceman studied the leaf absently before letting it drop from his fingers and let out another sigh.
When Bobby glanced up and caught Nightcrawler's gaze, Kurt quirked the corner of his mouth offering him an understanding grin. Bobby pursed his lips,
acknowledged Kurt’s support with a slight nod, then slowly walked away again.
Ororo wasn't consciously aware of the fact that she'd picked up the pace. Her focus had centered on reaching the halfway point. She hoped that if they could make it to the field perhaps it would help draw out some of Logan’s memories.
Although Wolverine’s path took him zigzagging ‘cross country’, Storm was determined to walk straight ahead. Her attention was on getting them home, nothing else concerned her at this point.
They'd been walking for hours and the heat of the day was exhausting. She'd already been forced to stop and rest a couple of times, hoping Logan wouldn't get too far ahead of her.
But as her steps brought her up and over a small knoll, she came upon Logan who'd stopped to wait for her. As she got closer to him, Ororo could see that he was absolutely drenched with sweat. His mouth hung open as he tried to pant away the heat, his face was dark red from over-exertion and as she approached, he looked up at her but he didn’t move. His eyelids were heavy and Ororo thought he might just fall over.
“Logan?”
She knelt down beside him and could feel the heat emanating from him. His warmer-than-normal body temperature always served him well in colder climates, but as hot-blooded as he was normally, the high temperatures allied with the extreme humidity turned his body into a living furnace.
He was showing serious signs of heat exhaustion and Ororo realized that - with Logan's level of reasoning being diminished - she should've had the presence of mind to make sure he stopped and rested when she did.
She'd opted not to use her powers today, as much as she was tempted to, for fear that Logan would not understand her abilities and she didn’t want to spook him. But the effects of heat exhaustion can come about so quickly that, if you’re not on top of it every second, it can become a life-threatening situation before you realize what you’re dealing with.
The human body can compensate for such temperature extremes, but only for so long. And it was apparent by the amount of sweat his body was producing, as it tried to cool itself, that Logan had reached his limit. Without water to replace what he’d been losing he had overheated, and was not aware of the consequences, until they slammed him without warning.
With no more effort than a thought, Ororo's eyes began to white over and the tips of her hair began to float as the static surrounding her pulled at the long strands. The lovely maiden 'Ro turned into the goddess Storm right before the exhausted feral's eyes.
Logan sat paralyzed in fear as the female he'd already claimed for himself began to change. He watched in terrified awe as her eyes lost their color, her hair flying wildly in front of him captured his gaze. Her skin seemed to grow translucent and insubstantial as her physical mass turned toward energy.
Her physical odor changed, yet remained the same, and it confused Wolverine who growled in fear. Her scent had changed and now she smelled of wind and rain, and lightning and snow.
Her scent said she was Ororo, the talker and the eater of apples. Her scent told him she was the female, but beyond physical... beyond sexual. Her scent said that she was as beautiful and as deadly as the sun up in the sky.
His primitive mind told him that she did not just have power... she was power. She... was the power of sun and sky itself. Logan's mouth slowly fell open in awe and silent worship, and his body vibrated in respectful 'fear' as the hair on his body stood up on end from the electricity in the air.
Storm called upon the elements to produce a cooling mist which began to fall down around them. It was wonderfully refreshing, and as the tiny droplets settled on them, Logan shuddered involuntarily.
Ororo opened her eyes to see if the misty drops were having any affect on his condition. She was taken aback by his expression as the wolverine scented her cautiously and stared with piercing eyes in open-mouthed wonder.
It was in that moment that Ororo saw him for the first time. The wild man who sat before her was not a poor man wrecked on the shores of life like a mighty sailing ship repeatedly crashed against the breaker rocks. No.
This creature was not only power and strength, but wild and loving, passionate and furious, wise and yet innocent. He was beautiful and deadly as life itself. If she was the air that gives breath and life, then he was the fertile earth and the blood that supports the life.
They sat transfixed for an eternal moment, seeing the truth of the other behind the masks of flesh and bone - goddess and demigod, the sky and the earth; each one defining the other and completing the 'wholeness' that each had been seeking.
They each took a step forward, unconsciously aware of the other, and the physical action broke the spell which held them enthralled with the other - it vanished, washed away in the falling mist. As each became aware of their surroundings again, Logan shuddered involuntarily and Ororo caught her breath.
Most of the falling precipitation was too light to penetrate his thick hair, but it was a relief in itself as it cooled the ambient air directly around them. Logan closed his eyes and turned his face upward into the descending mist, so as not to refuse the generous offering.
As his body’s temperature began to cool, it raised goosebumps on his arms. He licked the moisture from his dry lips, then gave a quick shake of his head to expel the collected moisture from his mane. Storm held her hands out in front of her, cupping them together, as a small sprinkle of rain appeared above them and filled her hands with cool water.
The pooling liquid immediately caught Logan’s attention. He cocked his head to the side for a moment, then instinctively reached for it. Storm smiled as she watched him trying to figure out how to get the water out of her hands.
First, Logan tried to use his right hand to scoop the water from hers, but that didn’t work so he tried with his left. When it became apparent that just one of his hands was too large to fit into Ororo's cupped hands, he tried to splash it toward his mouth with his fingers.
He started to get excited with anticipation and quickly tried different ways of taking possession of the cool liquid. He would've given anyone the impression of being frantic. Ororo too would've thought so if she hadn't been close enough to see the look in his eyes.
He was definitely thinking in an orderly fashion, but the ideas were coming to him so quickly that when one idea didn’t work he immediately moved on to the next strategy. As his hands moved around hers, Logan would shift positions and try again.
Ororo’s smile grew as she watched him bounce from one side of her to the other, his complete attention on her hands. She'd already decided, of course, that she would show him the solution he was looking for if she had to. But she waited, giving Logan the chance to figure it out by himself.
He'd been imitating her all day, and she was waiting for him to cup his hands like she was doing so she could fill his hands with water too. It took about thirty more seconds for Logan to come up with a solution, although, strangely enough, it wasn’t the one she'd expected.
All of a sudden he stopped moving and she looked up at him, her smile fading into an expression of mild concern. He was looking down at her hands, staring at them, not moving, and she thought he'd given up.
Then he looked up at her, raising one eyebrow. Ororo couldn't help but smirk, wondering what he was up to. Before she could ponder what his next move would be, Logan moved right up in front of her and cupped his hands around hers, then lowered his lips to the cool liquid, sucking it up directly into his mouth.
Surprised, Ororo giggled and shook her head at the simplicity of his solution. When he'd extracted as much as he could get, he sat back on his haunches licking every last drop from his parched lips, looking a bit smug.
Ororo let the excess water fall from her hands before cupping them in front of her again, to fill them for herself. As she did, Logan moved toward her again ready for seconds. But when she drank the water, instead of offering it to him, he grunted and put his hands out to let her know he wanted more.
As his hands came together, she quickly filled them with the water. Logan's eyes lit up with wonder, and he quickly looked up at her for confirmation that he was doing it correctly. Ororo smiled and gave him a nod as she drank from her own hands.
Logan drank several handfuls too quickly and Storm hurried put an end to her miniature rainfall. She didn’t want him to gulp it so fast, fearing he would get stomach cramps and just throw it all back up.
But Logan was insistent on getting more and she knew he needed it, so she decided to let him have his fill, but she regulated how fast he could get it. She forced him to pause between each handful, until he could ‘convince’ her to do it again.
By the time Logan was satisfied his color was much better and he was ready to take off again. His body’s ability to compensate for, and overcome, any ills that affected it was nearly instantaneous as long as its internal balance was kept.
Once they got moving again, Ororo made sure to keep him close. It wasn’t too difficult now that he knew the effects the heat could have on him he kept a slower steadier pace.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
They only walked about half a mile more when Logan suddenly froze in his tracks. Ororo stopped too. She recognized this behavior, knew it all too well. He was sensing something.
His head turned in short abrupt movements, which told her that he was hearing something. After a moment, he was able to pinpoint where the sound was coming from and moved out in that direction.
Ororo really didn’t want to go off the path. She wanted to keep moving, but she didn’t want to lose track of him either and as Logan took off through the woods at a steady pace, she turned left off the path and followed him through the trees.
She realized she would have to hurry to keep him in sight and, finally, was able to catch up to him. He was crouched low, staring straight ahead as she came up behind him.
Ororo slowly made her way over to him, trying to make as little noise as possible. As she approached, Logan looked over his shoulder at her, then turned back around sniffing at the air.
As she came up beside him, Ororo looked in the direction he was focused on, but all she could see ahead of her was dense forest. She looked down at him wondering what it was that had caught his attention.
Logan just stared intently through the trees. His body trembled and a rumbling sound rose from his chest. Then his hackles went up, causing his mane to change shape. Ororo didn’t know what had him on edge, but he was taking it as a serious threat. She quickly glanced around, but saw nothing.
Ororo held her breath and became as quiet as she could. Then, in the stillness, she heard it too. Voices.
Someone was out here. Their friends had come out to meet them and escort them home. She turned to Logan to let him know that it was okay, that the sound he was hearing was their friends and she wanted him to know that those people would not harm them. But he was gone. He'd slipped away without a sound.
Ororo looked around quickly but there was no sign of him, and no indication of which way he'd gone. She knew he wouldn't have left her there to face a danger on her own, so she was sure he hadn’t run away.
Which meant he must be going toward the sound, to try to intercept the threat; to protect her, to keep her safe.
‘Oh, Goddess,” she realized, “they don’t know he’s coming.”
Bobby and Kurt settled into quiet conversation with Hank after having used him as a sounding board to air their concerns and anxiety. Although McCoy didn’t have a definitive answer for all of their questions, it did appear that just having had the opportunity to voice them out loud had eased their anxiety and afforded them a deeper sense of calm.
Bobby was now sitting on the rock next to Beast, and Hank was grateful for that. After all, Bobby Drake was called ‘Iceman’ for a reason. His special mutant ability gave him the power to manipulate temperature to its lowest extremes.
By pulling moisture from the air the Iceman could turn anything into ice, create ice sculptures out of thin air, and reduce his own body temperature - enabling him to turn himself into a living icicle without any adverse affects.
Without being aware of it, Bobby was cooling the air closest to his body, as a natural and instinctive solution to the amount of humidity in the air. And as humidity is the result of dense molecules of moisture in the air, Iceman was able to easily produce a cool, dry atmosphere directly around himself.
To McCoy, it was like sitting in front of an open freezer, and the crisp air was collected between the hairs of his thick animal-like pelt and held there to cool him down. Sitting in the comfort of Iceman’s presence, they had become absorbed in leisurely conversation ranging to all kinds of topics for the past forty-five minutes or so. The three X-Men had nearly forgotten where they were and their purpose for being out here, until Ororo stepped out of the woods and into the clearing some distance from where they were sitting near the path, and where they had expected her to come from. Bobby'd just finished telling them an amusing anecdote, and was setting up to tell another, when Kurt looked up just in time to see her enter the field.
“Storm!” Nightcrawler exclaimed as he quickly scrambled to his feet and Bobby and Hank just as quickly snapped to attention, suddenly alert again.
As Bobby and Kurt ran to her, Hank moved out a bit more cautiously, scanning the area. If Wolverine wasn’t with her, and it didn’t appear that he was, then...
'Where could he be?’ McCoy wondered.
The two young X-Men greeted her enthusiastically with hugs and a barrage of questions that would've made anyone think she'd been out here for weeks, instead of just over two days. Storm tried but was unable to answer their inquiries as quickly as they were throwing them at her.
Hank quickly came to her rescue, gently pushing through his two young friends and taking her in his arms, he gave her a moment to collect herself. Ororo took that moment to let it sink in that she was no longer alone in her endeavor. Then she lifted her head from Beast's shoulder and gave him a thankful smile.
“My friend, I have missed you,” she told him, and Hank smiled.
“How are you?” he asked with mild concern.
“I am doing well. Really,” she assured the good doctor.
“Where is he?” Hank asked quietly. It was information they required, but he didn’t want to appear pushy. He had no idea, at this point, what Ororo had dealt with in the past seventy-two hours or so. He knew she'd already had a long trip, and and they were still two miles from home.
“I don’t know,” Ororo told him.
That was not exactly what Dr. McCoy was hoping to hear. Even if Wolverine had come this far with her, he knew they would not be able to force him to return with them. But he'd hoped, at least, to have the chance to take stock of Logan’s condition; physically and psychologically.
Bobby's and Kurt’s disappointment etched across their faces as Ororo told them how she'd followed Wolverine toward the voices, then he'd just vanished.
Iceman scanned the area toward the far side of the field and Kurt glanced past the group in the opposite direction.
“He may be near,” Ororo offered and Kurt’s eyes went wide.
“He’s probably watching us... hiding in the trees,” Hank guessed as he scanned the leafy branches that encircled the meadow.
“Oh... he’s watching us... but he’s not hiding in da trees,” Kurt informed them at a near whisper, trying hard not to let the fear in his voice show.His companions turned to look at him, then they redirected their attention to the place where Kurt was staring.
The small group of X-Men were standing in the middle of the sun drenched field, and it took them a moment to focus their eyes and to distinguish Wolverine’s form in the shadows. If Kurt hadn't focused, specifically on that spot, he never would've seen him with just a quick glance.
Kurt had been listening to the conversation between Storm and Beast, and he had begun to wonder why they couldn’t have this discussion in the shade where it was cooler, when he looked back at the rock where they had just been sitting.
And that’s when he saw Wolverine, perched atop the very rock the three X-Men had just vacated. That unnerved him a little - wondering if the feral man's plan had been to ambush them.
Logan had assumed a resting position on top of the rock, that made Dr. McCoy think of that old children’s game aptly named ‘Leap Frog’. His feet were set wide apart and flat on the rock, with his weight balanced evenly and his hands planted in front of him. He was holding his head low, nearly even with his shoulders, which helped to camouflage his shape with the natural shape of the rock. If Kurt hadn’t forced himself to focus there, Wolverine would have gone unnoticed for some time.
“Logan!” Storm called to him, relieved that he'd stayed nearby. Wolverine remained very still, glaring at the unwelcome guests.
“Mein Gott,” Kurt whispered, in reaction to Wolverine’s predatory expression.
“Whoa,” Bobby exclaimed as he too got a good look.
They had been expecting Logan's behavior to still be somewhat primitive, but none had expected his appearance to be so feral-looking. He was an awesome sight.
Ororo began to walk toward him. Bobby and Kurt automatically began to follow her until McCoy stopped them.
“Wait a minute, people. Everybody stop,” Hank told them. They all stopped and gave him their attention - except Ororo, who didn’t want to take her eyes off Wolverine; she'd seen just how quickly he moved when he decided to.
“Bobby and Kurt, stay with me. Ororo, see if you can get him to come out in the open, so we can all see each other clearly. We don’t want any surprises,” Hank instructed.
Ororo nodded that she understood and proceeded toward Wolverine. Logan stretched his neck, elevating his head, as he waited for her to come to him. He was aware that the other males may try to stop her and he was ready to intervene.
Kurt found it hard to believe that Ororo could just walk up to Wolverine like that and he made a comment to that effect.
“She’s been out here with him for almost three days and nights,” Bobby reminded him. “If he hasn’t tried to hurt her yet, why would he now?”
“Don’t put that much logic into it, Bob,” Hank replied. When Iceman looked at him, McCoy nodded once toward Logan and offered an explanation. “He just sat there watching her interact with three strange men. He may feel he's been betrayed. She needs to stay alert.”
As far as Logan was concerned he'd already claimed Ororo as his, and she'd accepted him. Who knew what he was thinking now - if anything - after seeing her ‘being passed around’ in the arms of the three men.
Hank’s fears were misplaced though, and he was thankful to see that she was actually able to walk right up to him. The three men watched from a distance as Ororo tried to convince Logan to come down from the rock.
But it appeared that Wolverine was ignoring her, only giving her a passing glance as he eyed the three strangers. Finally, Ororo turned away from him and began to walk back toward Hank.
Confused by her actions, Logan began to show signs of anxiety. It appeared to Dr.McCoy that Logan wanted to follow her - to stay with her - but it went against his instincts to approach the group of males outside his territory. At this point, Wolverine was just keeping a watchful eye on his female, and apparently would only come forward if he felt that she was in danger.
Ororo seemed to have realized that also. She crossed half the distance between Logan and Hank’s group, then she stopped and just sat down on the grass. She knew for a fact, that Logan had no intention of moving from his spot unless she forced him to. Once she was comfortably seated, Ororo turned to the three X-Men and gave them instructions.
“If he won’t come down, wait a few moments then start walking toward me,” she told them and the three men nodded.
Hank knew she was planning to use them as a perceived threat, to trigger Wolverine’s protective response. He informed his companions of her plan and also advised them to use great caution and to stay alert at all times. Kurt nodded slightly and Bobby swallowed nervously.
Logan watched as Storm sat down and proceeded to ignore him. He looked a little sad, Hank thought, a bit sad and a whole lot confused. Wolverine had no idea what she was doing and he couldn’t believe that she'd left herself vulnerable like that to the other males nearby.
Hank waited a few moments, watching Wolverine struggle with the decision as to what he should do... then he proceeded with Ororo’s plan.
“Okay, let’s go,” he said simply. Kurt and Bobby spread out, one to his left and the other to his right, then followed Hank’s lead.
As the three X-Men advanced slowly toward Ororo, Logan straightened his back, alert to the threat they posed. He looked at her to see if she was aware of the supposed ‘ambush’.
Ororo could see him from the corner of her eye and she felt bad about having to do things this way, but Logan had to learn that their friends posed no threat. A warning rumbled from his chest, but the challengers kept coming.
Logan rumbled a second warning, much louder than the first, and Ororo prayed she was doing the right thing. When the other males did not heed his warnings, Logan bolted from the rock landing just outside the shaded area of the trees.
He obviously wanted them to see him now and Kurt missed a step as he hesitated in fear, and that was exactly the reaction Wolverine was looking for. The three men stopped and Logan glared at them.
McCoy reassured his teammates and started forward again. Logan held his ground about twenty feet from where Storm was sitting. When the would-be challengers got within twenty feet of her on the opposite side Logan growled an undeniable threat and his mane fanned out, making the pointed tufts stand straight up.
It really didn’t matter how much smaller he was than the others, that action alone was enough to put the fear of God into most men. It even worked to intimidate his own friends, even though he didn’t yet recognize them as such.
“Hank?” Bob whispered.
“It’s okay. He just wants us to back off. Keep moving,” he told them.
“Why don’t we just back off?” Kurt asked nervously. It may have sounded humorous if he hadn’t been so scared.
“Keep moving,” Hank whispered, and as soon as they'd crossed over the twenty-foot mark Logan closed the distance between himself and his female.
He moved so fast that Hank’s group halted in fear, thinking he was charging them. But he wasn’t. He was, however, right beside Ororo so quickly that she'd
squeezed her eyes shut and prepared herself to be knocked over.
When she didn’t get ‘freight trained’, Ororo warily opened her eyes to see that Logan was now standing over her, literally. She could feel his right knee brushing against her back and his left foot was planted next to her left knee.
She turned, trying to confirm her perception of his position, but quickly changed her mind as she realized that Logan's crotch was right next to her left ear. That made her feel a bit uncomfortable, but she reminded herself that he'd taken up that position strictly to protect her. There was no way, with her being completely underneath him in this manner, that anyone could get near her without dealing directly with him first.
She turned her face skyward to look up at him, but she couldn’t see his expression from that angle. All Ororo could see above her was Logan's heaving chest as he leaned forward, setting his stance and preparing for battle.
“Storm?” Bobby’s voice came from somewhere behind her.
“I’m okay,” she assured her friends. “Start backing away... slowly.”
She spoke to them quietly so as not to startle Wolverine, causing him to attack. Hank and his cohorts slowly reversed direction. Ororo could hear Logan’s rasping breaths and the grinding of his teeth, but she couldn’t see his face as he snarled at the friends he still didn’t recognize.
She tried to lean back against his leg to get his attention and spoke his name and the next thing Ororo knew was her head being pushed back down, with Logan’s strong hand planted firmly on the top of her head.
Once her head was down he gave her a slightly stronger shove before he removed his hand, silently telling her to keep her head down. He expected her to be submissive - he didn’t want her distracting him - and he didn’t need to deal with her vocalizations right now.
A burst of prideful anger shot through Ororo momentarily, until she reminded herself that Logan wasn’t being ‘macho’ - expecting his female to appear weak. She knew that his wild instincts would make him behave in the same manner even if it had been a weaker male in his charge.
Storm began to wonder if Wolverine was questioning her loyalty to him. After all, she did have the scents of the three other males all over her. Perhaps that was why he was shoving her around. Maybe Logan felt that he needed to prove himself to her again.
She certainly didn’t want him to think that he needed to prove himself by ‘bringing down’ the other males. She needed to do something, now.
Ororo slowly raised her left hand, wrapping her arm loosely around Logan’s left leg just above his knee. It was her way of telling him that - even though she had other options available to her - she, once again chose him.
But Logan didn’t relax his posture. Ororo knew, that although she'd accepted him as the dominant male, he still perceived the others as a threat “ after all, they could still try to take her by force.
Ororo brought her other hand up and around to rest on his leg and leaned her head against the inside of Logan's thigh. She was well aware of the intimacy conveyed by this type of contact, but she needed him to believe the sincerity of her message.
Logan didn't react to her touch though. He was so focused on the others that he was unaware of her caress.
'Of course', she realized. For Wolverine, everything was a matter of survival... and survival came before all else. Anything, and everything, else was a luxury that had its time and place and luxuries would always take a back seat to necessity.
Ororo finally acknowledged the fact that only she had the ability to put an end to this standoff. It was up to her to show Logan that Hank and the others were not looking to harm either of them.
“I know what to do,” Ororo told them quietly, then she slowly moved out from beneath Logan’s protective stance and stood up.
At five feet eleven inches tall, she stood eight inches taller than Logan and the same height as Dr. McCoy. Bobby and Kurt - standing at five eight and five nine respectively - also dwarfed Wolverine. But every one of them knew, first hand, that Wolverine never faced a situation where he believed himself to be outnumbered or outmatched. In his mind, there was no such thing.
Ororo - alert to the fact that Wolverine had not yet ‘popped’ his claws, but was certainly prepared to do so - tried to act as mediator for the standoff. She laid her hand on Logan’s left forearm, which was poised and ready, and applied gentle pressure.
“Logan, it’s alright,” she told him. As Ororo pushed down on his arm, he flashed his fangs at the group of strangers and pulled up against her hand.
“Logan…” she repeated calmly and he shifted his eyes to look at her. Ororo kept the gentle pressure on his arm and gave him a reassuring smile. “No,” she said shaking her head.
He looked at her, a bit confused, then quickly turned his attention back to Hank’s group, setting his stance to reaffirm his position to defend.
“Logan, please... No,” Ororo reiterated and stepped in front of him. She made sure not to block Logan's view of the others, but she was making it clear that she wanted him to stand down. Logan looked her squarely in the eye and he knew what she wanted. He glanced past her, at the three men, as he weighed his choices.
“Hank?” Ororo said, requesting that Dr. McCoy step forward. She was holding her arm outstretched behind her, an indication to Logan that she was signaling the others.
“Hank…” she repeated as she waved her hand behind her. Logan recognized the motion as the ‘come hither’ gesture which he'd seen earlier, but this time she was inviting the strangers to come over. Logan quickly shot a glance at the small group, then furrowed his brow at Ororo. “It’s alright,” she assured him, then called to McCoy again. “Hank?”
“Are you sure, Ororo?” McCoy asked. “I wouldn’t want to…”
“Yes, it’s alright,” she replied, looking over her shoulder at him. “Come here.”
Bobby and Kurt stood quietly nearby, looking back and forth between Ororo and Hank. As Henry McCoy stepped forward and approached them, Logan studied the large blue Beast.
As the distance between them narrowed Logan trembled a couple of times. Each time he trembled Ororo could feel the tremor through the contact she had with his arm and she quietly reassured him.
There was no mistaking that Wolverine was wound up tight and more than ready to spring into action, but he seemed willing to trust her judgment and hold back for now. Ororo made sure to commend him over and over again, to keep his mind focused on her voice.
Hank came up behind her slowly and stopped just out of reach of her outstretched hand. Good thing too, because Logan checked.
Keeping one hand on Wolverine’s arm, Ororo took Hank's by the other and guided him up to stand along side her. Logan studied Hank’s facial expression
and body language closely and found no indication of threatening behavior. His sense of smell told him that, although McCoy was cautious, he held no fear or hidden agendas.
Hank took this opportunity to check out Wolverine’s condition up close. Overall, the doctor concluded, he looked pretty healthy - except for the outgrowth of hair and the layers of dust and dirt he looked pretty good.
Psychologically he was still quite primitive in behavior and Hank noticed, as Logan looked back at him, that his pupils were still quite large although they appeared to be receding.
“Logan? Hank,” Ororo introduced him to Dr. McCoy. When a moment went by and Logan didn’t respond, she repeated their names and touched each one on the chest as she did. “Logan. Hank.”
Dr. McCoy watched him with great interest. Logan cocked his head to the side, still staring up at him.
“Hh-ank,” Logan finally repeated hoarsely.
“Oh my stars… he’s talking,” Hank observed.
“Well, not exactly,” Ororo corrected. “He’s repeating. Mimicking.”
“I see,” Hank replied. McCoy brought his hand up slowly and reached out to Logan in an offer of friendship. He held it there patiently as Logan stared at it.
After a moment of pondering the action, Logan touched McCoy’s hand curiously, checking out the large blue fingers. Then he took Ororo’s hand and, holding one finger between his finger and thumb, he looked at her nail. It was the same color.
He then compared Ororo's blue fingernail to Hank’s blue fingernails and made it a point to show them the similarity. Both Hank and Ororo acknowledged the observation.
“Mimicking and matching. He is coming along,” Hank noted aloud.
“Curious,” Ororo added.
“It’s not, actually. After all, that is how we learn,” Hank replied.
“No,” Ororo said with a smile. “I meant, *he* is curious. About everything.”
“Oh,” Hank smiled. “That’s good.”
“Yes, it is,” Storm agreed, smiling affectionately at Logan. Oblivious to what all their words meant, he just looked back at them blankly.
“There is something that I'm curious about,” Hank mentioned.
“Yes?”
“His pupils. Have they been dilated like that the entire time? Or did that just happen when he became defensive?”
“No, they have been like that the whole time, but I noticed this morning that they appear to be going back to normal. You can see some of the blue from his iris around the edges. See?” Ororo pointed out.
“Mmm. Yes, I see," Hank acknowledged. "And when exactly did he begin to vocalize?”
“Yesterday afternoon. Why? Do you think there is a connection between the two?” Ororo asked.
“There could be. It’s just a theory I have, but it’s a sound theory,” Hank told her. “Of course, I wouldn’t be able to confirm anything without doing some tests… and I’m quite sure he wouldn’t agree to sit still long enough for that to happen. We could try to sedate him I suppose, but…” Hank began to mumble out loud, more to himself than anyone else, but Ororo was now becoming a bit concerned about the direction in which Hank’s thoughts were going.
“Wait a minute… tests on what?” she interrupted.
“His brain,” McCoy answered without pause.
“His brain? You think there is something wrong with his brain?” Ororo asked. She tried to keep her voice calm and level, although now she was a little frightened.
“Wrong? No. Different? Yes,” McCoy assured her, but before he could explain further a voice piped up behind them.
“Hellooo.” Hank and Ororo turned toward Bobby. “Can we come over too, or what?” he asked, putting his hands on his hips and shifting his weight over to one hip, showing his obvious lack of patience.
Logan looked over at him.
“Sorry, Bob. I got a little absorbed in…” Hank’s words trailed off as Logan stepped past him.
Everyone fell silent as Wolverine took the initiative. He approached Iceman cautiously, glancing over at Kurt often. Bobby fell silent and dropped his hands to his sides, looking a lot less confident than he had just ten seconds ago.
Hank and Ororo followed Logan just to be safe, but he appeared to be more curious about Iceman than anything else. When he got about ten feet away from Bobby, Logan stopped and sniffed the air between them, then turned to look at Ororo for reassurance. As she stepped up next to him she put her hand on his
shoulder and smiled.
“It’s okay,” Ororo told him. “Logan. Bobby.” Logan wasn’t paying attention to the introduction though. He was looking past her to make sure Nightcrawler hadn’t moved. Ororo could sense that Wolverine was nervous about Kurt’s appearance and the smell of sulfur that clung to his clothes probably was not lending any comfort to Logan’s perception of him, so she tried to put him at ease. “That…” she said, pointing at Nightcrawler, “is Kurt. Kurt.” She repeated, emphasizing his name.
“Ker-t.” Logan repeated in a low, gravelly voice.
“Hello,” Kurt greeted softly in return. His kind voice with the soft German accent took Logan by surprise. He stretched his neck to look around Ororo with bright, curious eyes.
Without waiting for a prompt, Kurt came forward to offer his hand to Logan. It was a naturally friendly gesture; without fear or concern and Logan found that intriguing. Because of Kurt's relaxed demeanor Wolverine took to him immediately, finding him curiously fascinating.
Looking beyond Nightcrawler’s fuzzy blue - devilish appearance - with his pointed ears and tail, Wolverine studied Kurt’s eyes. Color aside, they told Logan everything he needed to know. There was nothing to fear from him.
Logan gently grasped Kurt’s proffered hand and showed it to Ororo, indicating to her the two large fingers and one thick thumb. Then he crouched down and compared his own feet to Kurt’s - which also had only two thick toes. Ororo smiled then looked at Hank, who was shaking his head in amazement.
“I don’t know what I find more compelling,” Hank admitted, “his ability to comprehend at this level… or his innate gentleness and curiosity.”
“I know,” Ororo agreed with a smile then she turned to Bobby and invited him to participate. “Why don’t you show him what you can do?” she suggested, but he looked at her a bit unsure. “It’s alright, Bob. He won’t hurt you. Go ahead.”
Bobby nodded and squatted down to Logan’s level, instinctively removing any dominating position and putting himself on equal terms with Wolverine.
“Logan?” Iceman said calmly.
When Wolverine turned away from Nightcrawler to look at him, Bobby held out his right hand, palm up. Then he cupped his left hand over the right and a small bright light illuminated his fingers from within.
Logan’s eyes widened a little at the show and spinning around on his toes, gave Drake his undivided attention. He stared at Bobby’s hands, slowly moving toward him to get a closer look.
When Logan stopped in front of him, Bobby opened his hands to show him a small, sculpted chunk of ice now sitting in his palm. Logan arched his eyebrows and looked at Bobby, then he tried to imitate what he'd seen.
Logan cupped his hands together the same way that Iceman had done, but when he opened them he seemed surprised to see there was nothing there. Drake grinned, then reached over and covered Logan’s hand with his own.
The light appeared and Logan could feel something happening. He tried to peek under Bobby’s hand but he didn’t pull away. When Bobby moved his hand away there was a small, turtle-shaped ice sculpture sitting in Logan’s palm.
Wolverine looked at Bobby with appreciation, then carried the turtle to 'Ro to show it to her. As he pointed at Bobby, she smiled at him and nodded.
“Iceman,” Storm told him.
The small ice turtle began to melt in the summer heat and Logan watched the cold water run down his arm. He looked at the turtle, then at Iceman.
Bobby was still holding his own sculpture - but because of the cold temperatures he created naturally - his wasn’t melting. Drake smiled at Logan’s expression, then popped the fancy ice cube in his mouth. Logan followed suit and immediately crushed it between his teeth... then he came back for more.
While Logan took the time to get used to Iceman and Nightcrawler, Hank and Ororo took advantage of the extra down time to catch up. By the time Storm and Beast were ready to start the walk toward home, Kurt and Bobby were following Logan in and out of the woods as he began to show them the same things he'd already taught Ororo.
He'd pick a few leaves from a small plant and hand one to each of them, then he'd eat his and wait for them to do the same. They didn’t want to appear rude so they swallowed the bland tasting vegetation.
When Hank finally called to them, Bobby and Kurt were relieved. They really didn’t want to sample whatever Logan was chasing. Thankfully, whatever it was kept eluding him by scurrying under a rotted log.
When they finally got his attention, Logan followed the two young men back automatically and the three led the way home. Logan never seemed to notice that they just kept walking farther and farther away from his territory.
TBC in "Shades of Humanity (pt. 1)"
