The Distant Calls of Fall
Chapter #05 “More than Words”, Part 3
“To tell ya the truth, they didn’t give me much of a choice, at first.”
There was a hint of both amusement and anger in his tone as Logan’s quiet voice moved across her in the night. Remembering the ultimatum he’d been presented some 20 years ago still made him seethe at times; it was only (slightly) tempered with the knowledge that despite how he came to Section X, the department was built on a strong foundation of good intent. The perfect vehicle for someone like him to reach out for the formerly unattainable brass ring of redemption.
“With a past like mine, I hate to say it but I jumped at the chance to have my entire criminal record wiped as clean as my memory had been. I’d join the Marines, get the “basic” military background, then look forward to transferring out to this barely-off-the-ground unit nobody seemed to want to admit existed. It was that, or wake up back in the fold of Dept. H in Canada”something I promised myself would never happen after finally fighting my way out.”
Enclosed in his strong embrace, Ororo’s gaze was focused on the window across the room where the moon’s reflected light cast a bluish glow toward them. Her mind was elsewhere, back in time with his words in the early 1980s as he re-created his textured history for her. His deep, reserved cadence made her all the more attentive, and she found herself hesitant even to breathe during the re-telling. Indeed, she didn’t move in his arms as he paused”for effect or reflection, she knew not”but Logan’s fingers drew lazy patterns across her exposed shoulder as he stared up toward the ceiling of the bedroom, almost lost in thought as she was.
The brief reprieve they’d taken between lovemaking sessions was turning into over two hours as Logan delved into things about himself, his job and his past that he’d not spoken aloud”ever; not even to Jean. Now as time ran out against his will, Logan realized that he needed to get this all off of his chest and out of his mind.
“Department H,” she whispered the words as if they might scald him, “They’re the ones responsible for your memory loss...they’re the ones responsible for…Wolverine.”
There was a pause he didn’t expect to take as Logan resisted the urge of the chill running down his spine. The terrible truth was he was just as excited as he was appalled at the thought of his ‘alter’. The man that he was when he used the name Wolverine was as much a part of him as James Howlett. That, he knew, would never change. “Actually darlin’, Dept H wasn’t the beginnin’ of Wolverine. They just took a bad situation and made it worse…But It was always there. They just gave It a name.”
The underlying tone in his voice tugged at her heart, and Ororo raised her head to meet his eyes. She didn’t know how to thank him for sharing the secret that was Logan with her. He could see it in her eyes, though, and as their gazes held, he reached up, moving her hair out of her face and caressing her cheek. “Logan, I…”
He smiled when she couldn’t seem to come up with anything past that. “I know.”
October 11th…
Sitting up on the bed in the infirmary, Ororo supported her head with her hands, staring into the folds of the sheet in her lap as she drew her knees up. Even now she couldn’t seem to keep her mind off of that night; the things they said, the places he touched”in her heart and on her body…
“How did this happen??”
Lifting her head, Ororo gave her sister a look that spoke volumes. “If I have to explain that to you Marie”“
“O my Gawd, Ororo.” The drawl was exaggerated even more with Marie’s puzzling ire. “You know what ah mean. The two a’ya were barely together a few months and Bam! Ya let this happen??”
“Excuse me??” Her blue eyes lost a bit of color as Ororo’s own temper began to flare. She couldn’t believe her younger sister was actually standing there with the nerve to admonish her.
Before Beth could calm both sisters, Scott spoke up, his eyes bouncing between the three. “Hey, hey, hey…guys can you give us a minute? Alone?” He felt he needed to elaborate.
“Wha--?!” Marie’s flashing green eyes turned on him, but Beth was all too glad to move in then, pressing her sister’s back toward the infirmary room’s door. David watched them before turning back to Ro and Scott.
“Well…I…I’m glad you’re alright, Ororo. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to check on the students.”
Once alone, she had a hard time meeting Scott’s waiting gaze, even to thank him for corralling her flustered sister. He came up to the foot of the bed again, standing there with his arms crossed and watching her. If she’d been looking at him she would have seen his expression wasn’t judgmental or accusatory. Just concerned.
And maybe a little hurt.
“Hey…”
Almost angrily, she glanced up at him; surely waiting for another scolding. Her eyes were stinging with unshed tears but Ro held them back stubbornly as best she could. For his part, Scott Summers relaxed his stance upon witnessing her expression.
“…how do you feel?”
“How do I feel?? How do you think I feel, Scott? A few weeks ago I find out I’m pregnant, I can’t tell my family”let alone my child’s father”‘came this close to doing this baby real harm out of some stupid attempt to keep you all from knowing, only to have my sister all but call me an irresponsible slut to my face. Oh, I’m doing just fine. Just”“
She followed him with her eyes, her voice breaking throughout her short tirade. Scott came to the side of the bed and slid up on it facing her. He reached out and touched her hand only to discover she was shaking. Without responding to her flippant answer, he pulled on her arm, bringing her body into his embrace. Stroking her head as she wept, Scott squeezed her reassuringly.
“God dammit Scott (sniff)…so”scared. I”I’m just so scared.”
That much he could tell. It had been on the tip of his tongue to question why she felt she couldn’t have come to him with this”or her sisters at least. Putting aside his hurt feelings, he just held onto Ororo for a few minutes, trying to wrap his own mind around the bombshell she’d just tossed in the room. ‘Pregnant?’
Outside and down the hall, Beth had a difficult time keeping up with her young sister who”although slightly shorter”was increasing the distance between them as she stormed down the sterile halls of School’s lower levels.
“Marie, slow down Luv”“ Beth started (for the third time) before becoming a little irritated herself, and stretched out a hand to set up an invisible field of energy in front of the other woman.
At the sudden inability to move any farther down the hall, Marie huffed, turning to glance back at Beth with a no you didn’t expression.
“Will you hold on a moment?”
In response, Marie turned away, shaking her head before she closed her eyes against stinging tears. Because she couldn’t hit what she really wanted (which would’ve been Logan, had he been standing there in front of them) she sent a fist through the nearby wall, pieces of reinforced concrete falling to the floor.
Behind her, Beth was brought up short at her sister’s uncharacteristically brutal use of her powers. “Good Lord.”
Holding her hands to stop herself from shaking, Marie turned away from her sister, breathing heavily. “So fuckin’ stupid…”
“Now you don’t mean that.” Beth came up behind her, daring to lay her hands on Marie’s shoulders as they rose and fell with her breathing.
“Not Ororo,” Marie retorted, “Well, not really. Ah meant Logan.”
“Logan?” Beth reared back a little. “Why are you upset with him?”
Because he isn’t here. He should be here. Was her immediate thought. “You heard what Ororo told us about his first kid; how could he even chance bringin’ another baby into this world? And what this is doin’ to muh sister…”
Marie’s hurried speech didn’t immediately make much sense to Beth, so she carefully laid her fingers against Marie’s cheek, and received a rush of emotions she quickly sifted through, as expertly as her father taught her. After a moment, she stepped back, steadying herself against the head rush of Marie’s siphoning power. Finally she understood.
“I’m worried too, Marie.” Beth’s voice was low and careful as she angled her face to catch a glimpse of the other woman’s gaze. “You don’t know what this pregnancy could mean for Roro”none of us do, not even Cecilia. But lashing out isn’t going to make things any better. Especially not for our sister.”
Of course the hot-headed sibling knew that, but it still didn’t take the dull ache of worry from Marie’s face or her mind as she tried to stop thinking of worst case scenarios: What if this child had the same affliction as Amahra? What if Logan didn’t want this child? What if it wasn’t the baby that was in danger…but Ororo..?
Reading her like a book, Beth chanced their skin coming in contact again as she drew her young sister into an embrace. Her sisters were all that Marie knew in life, having been given up for adoption straight from the womb and floating through the social services system until Charles Xavier welcomed her into his home and heart. Despite being older than Marie, Beth and Brian actually became part of the family afterwards as slightly older pre-adolescents. In the beginning though, it had been the two little orphans that clung to each other as the first of Xavier’s adopted brood; Marie and Ororo were as close as any biological sisters could be and the former would be damned if anything happened to the latter. Even if that meant some feelings were getting hurt.
Upstairs in one of the empty classrooms, “David North” stood at the window watching some of the children play. They’d decided to release the kids early, only having half a day after Ororo’s class was beside themselves when she fainted. Kathryn “Kitty” Pryde was almost inconsolable, unable to stop replaying the image of her beloved instructor falling to the floor like a rag doll, which resulted in the incident spreading like wildfire among the other classes. To try dousing the flames, Scott ordered the lot of them to go outside and have some fun (and hopefully forget about the morning’s ‘excitement’). As it stood, most were in the front of the School’s lawn, watching several of the older boys in a rough game of ‘powers football’. Knowing that was a big No-No, David nonetheless ignored them, as he stared into oblivion, his thoughts elsewhere.
‘Son of a bitch..!’ He wasn’t sure if he was more surprised or ecstatic; what kind of luck was he having to run across intel like this? It put a completely different spin on his plan to avenge himself of Logan. The stakes for the absent agent just got a whole lot higher.
Now, if he could just track down Victor…
David’s expression tightened at the thought of his thus-far fruitless attempts at secretly contacting the fugitive, which were going nowhere fast. He thought Odesa Boudreau might be the key, but the old codger flatly refused to get involved, paranoid that if he tried reaching out to Creed on Nord’s behalf it would show up on somebody’s radar. Hell, he was probably right, but it was a chance Maverick was willing to take. He knew that unless Logan succeeded in tracking the rogue mutant down, the only way Victor Creed would ever be seen again is if he wanted to be. In order for this plot to succeed, Maverick had to make sure Vic did want to come out from hiding.
A few days later as Friday ended, signaling the blessed beginning of the weekend, the Xavier Institute was once again closing down after a long day. The students that called the school home were shuttered in as ‘lights down’ came into effect and the instructors took the time to finally relax after one of the oddest, eventful weeks they could remember.
Well, most of them tried to relax.
Upstairs in her loft, Ororo tried to turn in early per Cecilia’s stern instruction. The idea of getting more rest was a welcomed one, but not without its pratfalls, as she tossed and turned in a fitful sleep.
“Do ya like that, darlin’? Want me to do it again..?” his voice teased her expectations while his warm breath teased the inside of her thigh.
Barely able to lift her head from the sweat-soaked pillows beneath her, all Ororo could do was reply with a sound half-moan, half-affirmation. When the two were together like this, it was the only language either one really understood anyway.
With his head still buried between her parted legs, Logan let out a growl from deep in his throat, feeling her trembling fingers roughly grasp locks of his tussled hair. He didn’t need an invitation to submerge himself deeper but took delight in taunting her as he lightly brushed the outline of her lips with his.
“God damn…” she sighed above him, the blasphemous words sounding more like a blessing carried by her smooth voice.
Resisting the tickle of soft pale curls that decorated the center strip of the object of his affection, Logan’s tongue darted out, then slowly licked intricate patterns over and over again as her lips responded, pulsating and spreading that warm inner circle like a blossoming flower. Her body’s response elicited a low, dangerous sound from him that sent chills up her spine in anticipation. Coupled with the warm sweat laying a light sheen on her skin, Ororo shivered in the darkness beneath him.
Submerged between her thighs, Logan took his time”and his tongue”slowly across her body. He couldn’t seem to get enough of the smell of her, and tried hard not to let his mind remind him he’d likely never get to taste her again. His brows furrowed at the quick, depressing thought, and almost like a strike against the idea, he rolled his hot, wet tongue across her inner labia lips, his fingers (slick with her own juice) stroking the outer lips with a caress that jolted her from the bed.
Ororo’s leg curved, the back of her knee snugly cradling his head, purposely pressing him closer. Lost in the ecstasy of his torturous maneuvers, she ignored the knowing chuckle. Raising his eyes, Logan watched her body moving like a snake, her back arched away from the bed as Ororo brought her hands up to her breasts, teasing the already rock-hard tips. His stormy grey eyes moved with her body’s swaying, as he deftly focused on tickling her clit.
Hissing with the spike in pleasure, Ororo’s eyes fluttered closed and she muttered something in Swahili he didn’t catch. His never left her face as Logan’s hand momentarily left it’s home from between her legs, sliding up her abdomen. Ro’s concentration on her building orgasm was broken and she turned her head, hooded eyes drifting down to meet his…
“It's in this moment, Hold on
When everything has come apart
It's in this moment
Right now
When it can come together
Raise your sights
What's there to lose?
Fall in the light
Fall in the light
Fall in the light…”
As their eyes burned into each other’s soul, Logan edged upward, crawling up the length of her supple, smooth, trembling body. His hands ran over the delicate flesh at her sides, his face dragging a stubbled path from her navel to the valley between her breasts.
She barely waited for his face before Ororo reached out to cradle his head in her hands, drawing his lips to hers. The hunger she held for him was the most intense she could ever remember, so Ro wasn’t one to hold back the feeling. Her heart beat triple time, but she paused when he drew back away from her a little, watching her eyes as she watched him.
Logan searched her face for some time, caressing the soft flesh beneath the curve of her jaw with his thumb. The look she gave him squeezed something deep in his chest; her eyes brighter than he remembered they’d ever been. Staring deeply into her troubled but heated gaze, he saw the months they’d spent together, the feelings she’d developed for him, wearing like age lines on her beautiful face. He realized then how much she must have loved him to let him hurt her like this.
“In all this trouble, Hold on
To the innocence with which you were born
There's so much struggle
Be strong
Find the faith you need to carry on
It's a long night
You're not alone
Fall in the light
Fall in the light
Fall in the light…
Unable to stand the broken promises, the pain and the love he could see behind her eyes, Logan reached up, grasping a thick lock of her white tresses, pulling gently. Submissively, she allowed her head to fall back and sighed deeply when she felt his hot breath at her neck”kissing and nibbling”floating down to her breast. As his tongue circled one peak, his other hand working magic on its own, she leaned back against the pillows trying to stop from squirming. When his hand disappeared from her nipple and arrived back between her legs, Ororo knew it was a lost cause.
Unhurried, Logan closed his eyes, lowering his head as he listened to the heightened, breathy moans of her first climax. He wasn’t bothered; he knew it was only the first of several, if he had any say in the matter.
Once the first wave flowed down, bringing Ro back to shore, she reached up, silently tugging on his shoulder. The unspoken command amused him, and it barely took him but a few moments to find a condom in the drawer beside the bed. She took it from him, rolling the latex down the length of his shaft, taking obvious pleasure in touching his hardness. When the job was done, Ororo roughly pulled Logan on top of her, unmindful of his weight and potential to crush the wind out of her (at the very least).
Obliging, he rolled over her, pressing her sweaty body into the mattress as he reared his hips back. Hugging her close, he turned his head just barely, watching as he slowly slid into her vagina. Even through the condom he could feel the inside of her constrict against the new pleasure of the internal stimulation. The sound she made below him nearly sent Logan spilling his load immediately.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, Ro pressed her cheek against his, her eyes barely open as she whispered something dirty in Swahili. The surprised look she received was short lived, as he turned to her, capturing her offending lips in a tongue-twisting kiss that took both their breaths away.
“It's in this moment, Hold on
When everything has come apart
It's in this moment
Right now
When everything - come together
Raise your soul
What's there to lose
Fall in the light
(Hold on)
(I know you'll catch me)”
Gasp! Ororo’s body tensed in the darkness of her loft as she came out of the dream suddenly. As sometimes is the case, she was momentarily confused, wondering why she wasn’t back in her apartment for a split second before the ugly truth came back:
This was reality.
Staring with wide eyes into the darkness, she fought the emotions playing through her and after a few seconds, came to a sitting position. She wouldn’t look behind her at the other side of the bed she knew was empty.
Closing the soft fabric of her night robe tightly against the chill coursing over her body (she knew it was nothing more than her heartache, not the weather), she crossed the room on bare feet, quietly opening and closing the door behind her.
Downstairs, long shadows stretched across the dark wood floors of the old mansion as she made her way toward the kitchen. It had to be well after midnight, as the cleaning staff was nowhere to be found and the only sounds were the settling of the house. Nearing the kitchen however, Ororo realized she wasn’t the only person awake. A dim light filtered out of the otherwise darkened kitchen as she rounded the corner, and the slight sounds of glass tinkering met her ears.
Stopping just inside the door, she crossed her arms, smirking as she listened to the ‘bandit’ roving through one of the refrigerators. By the sounds of it, someone was about to make him or herself a lovely”large”sandwich, as the crinkle of a loaf of bread and condiments hit one of the island counters.
As silent as a wraith, Ororo calmly reached an arm out and flipped the wall switch for the overhead lights.
“Shit!” Caught in the act, Marie halted mid-step as she stood on her way back to the counter with three different types of lunchmeat. Her eyes were wide as she stared behind her toward the door, obviously taken by surprise.
“I wondered why we have to go shopping twice a week now.” Ororo replied with just a hint of flippancy, her arm still stretched across the wall holding the light switches.
“Geez, Ro. Don’t scare me like that.” Marie’s body relaxed visibly and she let the packages of thin-sliced turkey and ham fall to the counter top beside the bread.
For several seconds, the sisters didn’t say anything further to each other, the memory of their interaction earlier that week coming back to both. Marie and Ororo hadn’t had much to say to one another since Monday, despite sharing several duties concerning the school. Beth tried to be a buffer, attempting to ease the two back onto speaking terms but soon discovered it was probably best to let them work it out on their own.
This often meant: ‘Hello Unstoppable Force; meet Immovable Object.’
Turning back to her plate, Marie cleared her throat as she set about making three sandwiches. Her mutated metabolism often had her up late like this, raiding pantries for anything high in protein and calories. She knew her sister had to remember that, so didn’t say anything further about the grocery comment.
Watching from behind her, Ororo contemplated returning upstairs, but the thought of laying back down on those cold sheets without Logan brought her spirits down like no other night since his departure. Caught up in her thoughts, she missed Marie’s belated retort until she blinked, looking up to see the other woman turned slightly toward her.
“Well? Ya gonna stand there all night and watch or can Ah get a hand?” It was Marie’s version of an olive branch; one Ro well recognized from their childhood.
Keeping her lips firmly closed, the older sister dropped her hands, coming into the kitchen to round the island counter and survey Marie’s progress. “If it’ll get your greedy ass out of my kitchen, fine.”
Stuffing a smirk, Marie didn’t reply as Ororo reached for a butter knife to start slathering mayo and mustard on a pair of bread slices. They worked in silence for several moments; Ororo didn’t need reminding how to put together a turkey/ham sandwich just the way Marie liked it, and diligently piled on the toppings between the Dark Pumpernickel bread.
Working at a much slower pace, Marie dared a glance or two up at her sister, who appeared worlds away as she robotically prepared the sandwich. Carefully folding slices of meat on a bread slice, Marie kept her eyes down for a moment, thinking back to several conversations with Beth since Monday. She realized that for all the apprehension and doubt she was feeling, that Ororo’s situation probably had the woman herself scared shitless.
“You’re up pretty late.”
“…yeah. Sleep’s not exactly a friend tonight.”
“Hm. I guess ya do have a lot on yer plate.”
“…”
“…Ro?”
Looking up then, Ororo patted the top of the second piece of bread as she completed the second sandwich, realizing Marie was still only halfway done with her first. Her younger sister’s eyes still didn’t meet hers as Marie focused on a leaf of freshly washed Romaine lettuce, flicking the edge of the greens with her fingernail. It was obvious there was something on the other woman’s mind, but her expression told Ororo that Marie’s struggle was probably only half of the problem.
When her sister remained silent, unable”or unwilling”to aid in Marie’s turmoil, she glanced up into Ro’s blue gaze, the worry and frustration clearly evident on her face. Licking her lips, Marie glanced back down to the half-finished sandwich. “Ah guess I haven’t exactly been makin’ a difficult situation any easier on ya. Have I?”
Ororo’s body barely moved, her gaze fixed on her sister as the younger barely kept from fidgeting beneath her piercing stare. “Not really.”
“Mm. Ah figured.” Marie’s words barely reached across the counter to Ororo, but the strained emotions in her words did manage to soften the ice that had been kept chilled for almost a week on Ro’s part.
Silence reigned between them again for a moment, until Ororo looked down, piling the two huge sandwiches on the plate in front of her and coming around the counter to stand beside Marie. Placing the food before her, she looked down at her sister, who still couldn’t manage to meet her gaze again. With a heavy sigh, Ro leaned into Marie, taking her with one arm by the shoulder and carefully hugging her. Mindful of their contact, Marie nonetheless melted into her sister’s embrace, her head cradled beneath Ororo’s chin as she hugged her in return. A slight brush of bare skin was all that was needed to communicate the feelings between them; Ororo felt her sister’s overwhelming concern and worry, while Marie fought back tears in the realization of Ro’s heartache having to endure this trial without the man she loved.
“…Ro, I’m”“
“I know. Me too.”
As they separated, Ororo sitting momentarily to regain her composure (she didn’t remember Marie’s power having such a strong affect with such a slight touch), the sudden sound of footsteps behind them brought both sisters in check.
“Damn. I thought I smelled meat.” Scott yawned between words as he stumbled inside the kitchen, eyeing the three sandwiches.
“What are you doin’ up so late?” Marie wiped her eyes as though she only had something in them, clearing her throat and eliciting a soft smile from her sister in doing so.
“Same thing as you two, evidently.” Scott strolled up to the counter, leaning in to see exactly what she had there.
Ororo took it upon herself to swat his hand away when he tried reaching in for a taste of meat hanging off the side of one sandwich. “Uh-uh.”
“Hey..!” Scott withdrew his stinging fingers, giving her a look.
Rolling her eyes, Ororo nodded toward one of the stools nearby, pulling the empty plate back toward her. “Sit down, I’ll make you one, too.”
“One?” Scott called after her as she went to wash the plate off. Turning to Marie, he leaned closer and whispered, “Boy, she’s getting all ‘motherly’ on us already.”
“I heard that.”
The two at the counter barely kept their snickering in check, as another pair of bodies appeared in the doorway.
Ororo turned just in time to see Beth, closely followed by David. She thought she’d imagined the two holding hands, giving her sister a quick look that Beth craftily ignored. ‘Another talk for another time.’
“Why weren’t we invited to the party?” Beth grinned at Marie and Scott, obviously pleased to see her sisters on good terms again.
“Hey, I just crashed in myself,” Scott admitted, “But maybe if you guys ask really nice, Ororo will give you half a sandwich.”
“Keep talking, mister.” Ro warned, “All you’ll get is a piece of wilted lettuce.”
Zipping his lips shut with two fingers, Scott smirked at the others as Ororo shook her head. It was amazing how a group of adults could resort to juvenile behavior when the lights when down. Turning to David and Beth, she saw them drawing up chairs. “Well, since the Xavier ‘All-Night Diner’ is officially open, what can I get you two??”
TBC…
[Reviews - 23]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story |
Has been viewed 1316 times
- Text Size +
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story | - Text Size +
You must login () to review.
