CHAPTER SIX
Ororo blinked several times, her eyes adjusting to the dim light shining through the cheap blinds in the living room. For a tense moment she had no idea where she was, and was startled up into a sitting position. Memory quickly flooded back to her, after looking down to see the sleeping man below her on the floor. Relaxing back onto the couch, she curled up again, this time watching Logan as he slept, albeit fitfully. Even in the mode of dormancy, this man appeared tense and almost alert, if that were possible. She looked at his hands, folded beneath his wild head, as his fingers twitched every few seconds. She remembered with biting clarity the nine inch blade that had been pushed toward her, gleaming in the night like some cold terror. The fear she had thought would come next didn’t, instead replaced by curiosity. She wondered where that fit into his mutant healing factor…
“You awake up there?” Logan’s voice was muted and groggy below her, though he didn’t move.
She jumped a little, then sat up. “Yes. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“You didn’t. I’m a light sleeper.”
She looked around the quiet apartment, then back down to him. “What time is it?”
Logan moved then, stretching a little before rolling to his feet to peek at the clock on the microwave. Confused, he glanced at the window. “Hmm…that can’t be right…”
He went from the table to the fridge, where a small calendar was adhered to the freezer door on top, and peered at it in the semi-darkness. “Jeez…”
“What?” she was up immediately, coming toward him.
“Shit…if you can believe it, we’ve been out for almost 20 hours.”
“What??” she looked at him as if she expected him to come clean with the Joke. When he didn’t, she ran a hand through her messy hair, embarrassed. “I’m so sorry, really. I didn’t mean to impose on you like this…”
He waved her concerns away, opening the fridge to free a beer. “You don’t have to apologize…want one?”
“No, thank you.” She scratched her arm because there was nothing else to do, looking at him with more than mild curiosity.
Logan shrugged, taking two more for later, and closed the fridge, coming back to the couch. When she didn’t move to join him, he looked up, popping the beer. “Well, ya gonna stand there, or come sit down?”
“Don’t you think I should be going?”
“Well, that’s entirely up to you, darlin’. From where I’m sittin’, though, the time for being awkward is long gone.” He almost laughed, gulping the beer.
She thought about that, deciding he was probably right. After what they’d gone through together, she did feel kind of odd just leaving it like that to return to her life, never to see him again. “Well, then can I ask you something?”
“Yeh, you can ask.”
She came to sit on the opposite side of the couch, drawing her legs up to her chin and evaluated him for several seconds as she mentally formulated what she intended to ask and how. She sensed she should probably choose her words carefully with Logan.
“Why did you do…what you did?”
“You mean let you suck my blood?” he seemed to get some thrill out of the embarrassed expression over her face in his mere voicing it.
“Yes.”
“Well, in the grand scheme o’ things, it didn’t seem like somethin’ that was gonna be that big a’ deal…”
“You say that as if”“
“Now it is? Well, I’m not sure ‘bout that…but I didn’t realize how…personal, I guess, it would be.”
“Don’t tell me you based your decision on public misperceptions? Or vampire movies?” she grinned teasingly at him.
“Maybe. Can’t say I ever knew a vampire I liked enough to let’em suck on me.”
She raised a brow at that. “You know other vampires?”
“Long time ago, ‘Ro. And not in the way you think.” His disposition became somewhat guarded as he said that, and Ororo didn’t delve deeper into that admission.
“…Why do you call me that?”
“What?”
“’Ro’?”
“Hm, sorry, didn’t realize. Didn’t mean t’offend ya.”
She reached over and laid a hand on his knee, smiling. “It’s no offense, Logan. I kind of like it, I guess. I’ve never had a nickname like that before.”
He nodded, taking that for what it was, and popped the second beer. As he drank, Logan could feel her eyes burning through the aluminum can as it blocked his view.
Ororo’s mind churned for some way to adequately express her gratitude to this man; he’d saved her from possibly doing something terrible, and at the same time given her a taste of what she knew ‘life’ to be like. A simple thank you seemed the height of inadequacy to her, even though she suspected Logan himself didn’t fully understand how much he’d done for her.
“So what’re you gonna do now?” His deep voice interrupted her thoughts, and Ororo looked up to meet his gaze.
She kept the eye contact to gauge his response to her answer. “Honestly, I’m not altogether sure. I haven’t tasted blood in so long…I feel like a different person. Who I used to be, shortly after”“
He kept looking at her even when she ducked her head, obviously unwilling to complete the sentence. For her own reasons, he surmised, this woman was uncomfortable talking about why she was the way she was. With a sad sort of humor, he realized how much she reminded him of himself, concerning the Weapon X program. Just as he imagined the other X-men were naturally curious about his origins, so he found himself about this mysterious woman. “That’s not such a bad thing, now is it?”
She shrugged one shoulder, contemplating this. “Not on the surface, I guess not. But I’m just afraid of what I’m going to do with myself now. After all, I can’t very well just snack on you whenever I get a craving.”
“Damned straight.” He chuckled, rubbing his sore neck as he took a swig of beer. As an after-thought, he asked, “By the way, what’d you do before? To keep this shit in check, I mean.”
Picking at the hem of her t-shirt, Ororo didn’t meet his gaze. “I…had help. From a friend…” She caught his eye and quickly amended, “Not the way you think. He’s a whiz at chemistry…botany, engineering--pretty much anything science-oriented. The medication he fixed for me was keeping the edge off.”
“So what happened?”
“Ran out.” She didn’t really consider that a lie, but for these purposes it would do as an answer. The less Logan knew about the illegal means she’d used to keep this virus under control, the better.
He drank from the can, taking his eyes off of her so she couldn’t see he thought that was bullshit. Logan was the first to admit a person’s private life was their own, so this little white lie of hers really didn’t bother him…much. “Well, the offer I made a few days ago still stands. I may not be headin’ that way for a while yet, but when I’m on my way back to Westchester, yer welcome to tag along.”
She thought about that invitation, the cool way in which he said it, and determined there was no hidden agenda. “You really believe your friends can help me?”
“They helped me.” His voice nearly caught in his throat as he realized what he’d said. The last thing Logan wanted right then was some deep conversation about his past and his problems.
Ororo’s eyes begged to probe deeper, and he could see that, but then she just smiled, and looked away. “Well, let me think about it. I have a lot of people depending on me here. To just disappear for goodness knows how long without adequate explanation to the staff, my patrons…I couldn’t do that to them…”
He sort of snorted, a little playfully, she guessed, and said, “I doubt they’d mind if they knew what for. B’sides, can’t your uptight manager take care of things?”
Her brow arched at the undertone that slipped in when he mentioned Forge. She had heard some rumors of what supposedly happened outside the club when Logan first showed up, but assumed it was simple gossip, the sort that would usually follow someone like him. That tone of voice convinced her otherwise. “Whatever first impressions Forge made on you, he’s a very competent man. I’d have no problems leaving the business in his care, indefinitely.” She wasn’t sure why she suddenly felt compelled to defend the man, considering it was his own negligence that had her in the position she was in.
“Didn’t mean t’ ruffle feathers there, darlin.” Logan smirked.
“Whatever. All I’m saying is that Forge has been there for me through a lot of hard times. I haven’t trusted anyone as much as I do him.”
“That wasn’t Forge you were tryin’ to latch onto last night.”
She paused, giving him a hard once over. Suddenly Ororo stood, making tracks for the door. “Mr. Logan, I think I should be going now”“
He was up and after her before she could even finish that sentence, grasping her wrist only firmly enough to halt her progression. “Hey, don’t get all pissed off…it was a joke.”
She gave him a piercing look.
“Okay, a bad one.”
She hesitated, watching his clear grey eyes carefully. She wasn’t sure what he hoped to get out of their association, and for the first time wondered if she’d been a fool to put so much trust in a man she barely knew. “No, that’s alright. Perhaps I should be going anyway. If I know my employees, they’ll have half the NYPD out looking for me.”
“What’s yer rush?” he still held on to her hand, his eyes holding her gaze steadily.
Ororo couldn’t explain why she suddenly wanted away from him, but she knew it had nothing to do with his comments about her and Forge. Searching his haunted eyes brought her back to that night, when their bodies had been as close as lovers, and she could feel his pulse beating beneath her as she held onto him like a life support. Ororo didn’t want to admit it, even to herself, that Logan had captured more of her fascination than just as a ‘midnight snack’. “I’m not in a hurry.” She whispered, almost defensively.
“Then come back over here.” He pulled her close so that their bodies almost touched again, looking up into her wide blue eyes with a twinkle in his own. Ororo surprised herself to realize her heart sped up momentarily as she waited for his next move. “B’sides, ya never told me…”
She could feel herself leaning into his bare chest, his intense gaze entrancing her.
“…what got you started watchin’ the streets.” He dropped her hand, turning to reseat himself on the couch, smiling devilishly behind her back.
Ororo blinked, once, twice, a third time, as her mind adjusted to the swift gear shift. She realized he was teasing her, and it only made her growing attraction to him stronger. ‘We want to play games, Logan? I can play games…’
She smiled, coming back over to the couch. “Well, that’s an interestingly long story…”
He patted the cushion beside him. “Hell, I got nowhere t’be.”
---
The next morning…
Remy stepped carefully around the considerable debris littering the streets of the neighborhood, wondering what in hell happened since he’d left only about forty-eight hours before. He thought he could leave Logan by himself for a couple nights just to check in with Rogue in Westchester and assure the rest of the team they hadn’t jumped ship. However, with how things looked--broken glass, crushed trash cans, bent lamp posts, some cars pushed out of their spaces into the streets…he thought maybe he’d been too optimistic in that assumption. “Mon dieu...!”
The door to the apartment building was loose on its hinges as he entered and climbed the several flights of stairs, part of him wondering if he truly wanted to keep going toward that apartment. By the time he reached the door, and took out the key to unlock it, he was convinced something was up.
Pushing the door open quietly, Remy peeked his auburn head through, and was slightly relieved to see Wolverine slumped over against the couch. Hell, the man probably slept through the whole storm. Smiling to himself, Gambit came in fully and turned to lock the door. When he came around again, his heart nearly stopped.
“Hello.” Ororo sat up on the couch from where she’d been curled up, wiping at her eyes and giving Gambit a sheepish grin.
The Cajun was speechless, probably for the first time in his life, as he stared openly at the sleep tussled woman. Her low, throaty greeting was enough to wake Logan, who stirred at her feet, becoming immediately aware of his surroundings. He glanced up at Remy’s curious and startled face, and then away, to see the almost playful look on Ororo’s. “Mornin’, Gumbo. You wanna close the fly-trap?”
Ororo chuckled, stretching for several seconds before she bounced to her feet, and came to stand before the surprised X-man, who hadn’t moved since seeing her. Offering a hand, she looked up at him with a twinkle in her eye. “I suppose an introduction is in order.”
Logan eased himself onto the couch, wincing at sore back muscles from where he’d been hunched over on the floor, and without looking at them said, “Yeah, Remy LeBeau, Ororo Munroe, vice versa, you two know the drill…”
Rolling her eyes at Logan, Ororo smiled properly at the young man, taking his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. LeBeau.”
“Oh, uh…’Remy’ is fine, chere…”
“Remy, then. Glad to see you’re feeling better than the last time I saw you.”
“Yeah…” he angled his head around to look Logan in the eyes pointedly, an action Ororo didn’t miss.
“Well, I guess I’d better get going…” she backed away from Remy and went around him toward the door.
“What’s yer hurry, darlin’? Y’haven’t even eaten yet.”
She paused with her hand on the knob, and turned to give Logan a bright, but still apologetic smile. “I’ll have to take a rain check on that one, Logan. I promise. Besides, if your refrigerator is any indication, I would probably end up doing most of the cooking!”
He tossed a pillow her way, growling deep in his throat. “Suit yerself.”
She chuckled, pulling the door closed behind her. “Don’t worry. I keep my promises.”
With the click of the door, the silence in the room was palpable. Remy stood staring at Logan, as if the older X-men member had gone completely berserk. From where Remy was standing, that wasn’t too far off the mark. Reaching for the cluster of empty beer cans that had slept with him, Logan ignored the other man, going to the kitchen to toss them. Of course Remy wasn’t one to let this sort of thing go.
“Y’know, ami, Remy sense o’ self-preservation tell him not to open dis Door, but we both know how hard de head can be…”
Surprisingly, Logan only snorted a short laugh at this, tossing the cans into the trash. “Cajun, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Which I ain’t. At least, not right now.”
Remy shook his head, smiling at his friend but still chastising him under his breath as he picked up his tote and headed for his bedroom.
---
Outside the apartment, about a half block away…
“Excuse me…” Ororo angled her shoulder to pass the woman who evidently didn’t feel the need to move to one side of the busy sidewalk. She gave her only a cursory glance, noting the conspicuous scarf and expensive leather boots that were sure to get her mugged any moment. Shrugging, she passed on by, automatically assuming the lady was probably either a misplaced tourist or a socialite looking to score something illegal.
Completely oblivious, Jean Grey nodded to herself, adjusting her scarf and sunglasses, happy with her fledgling attempt at tracking Remy to the Hell’s Kitchen apartment. Discovering the hideout, she wondered why she never thought about it before. It wasn’t like she didn’t know Logan and Matt had some place in one of the Burroughs they called a “sanctuary””they didn’t know she knew, but that was the risk one took when dating a telepath. Now that she knew for sure where it was located, maybe it was time she made a little surprise visit…
To Be Continued…
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