Inevitable by Darlin
He watches her constantly.
She watches him furtively.
Everyone else watch's the couple that was but isn't because Logan should be dead – is dead. But there he is, still the Logan they all remember except his hair's as white as hers.
It's almost a dance. He knows they're all watching and he doesn't blame them. He killed them in his world. That still hurts. But he's a killer plain and simple. Unlike their Logan he kind of likes it. Taking out the bad guys, why can't it be fun when you do it so well?
He wasn't made for anything else. He'd tried love. It never worked. And yet his eyes roam over her body as she speaks. She is all strength and control. So is he. It was hard earned. He knows it was hard earned for her too.
He knows if she trusts him the others will eventually accept him. She is everything to the X-Men. Without her they wouldn't be searching for the others, dead or missing since the upheaval of worlds and the terrigen mist started killing mutants and leaving them sterile. Without her there would be no X-Men. They respect her and love her.
She should be a queen and once was from what he's heard. His Storm was regal too. His Storm was beautiful and stolid, there for him always, until he killed her.
Her eyes meet his and he looks away and so do the others, hoping he won't decide to stare them down. It's a funny kind of dance. He's amused. After a bit it's over, she's finished going over the day's agenda. He watches her pack up her laptop and papers as the others leave.
"Is everything alright?" she asks when she sees him lingering.
"I think we need ta talk."
"Certainly."
She's calm, cool, collected, and hotter than any woman he's seen since his . . .
"Are . . . you alright?"
He doesn't answer. He pins her to the wall, his body pressing into hers, his arms forcing her against him, holding her captive, his lips crushing hers, his tongue thrusting into her mouth which opens without resistance.
When he finally lets her go his eyes are heavy lidded and lust filled. She's breathing hard, taken aback. He knows she wants him. Her desire for him has assaulted him from the moment they met. And yet she slaps him.
He grins, cups a breast in each hand and kisses her again just as savagely. Her desire is his desire, he can't fight it. He doesn't think of past lovers past wives or his past at all. All he knows is that this woman wants to be his and he's determined that she will be.
"Um . . . er . . . we . . . uh . . ."
They fall apart; look at the intruders, feeling anger more than anything.
"We . . . um . . ." Bobby's completely floored.
"We found something," Illyana says, coming to the point.
Don't judge me, Ororo thinks as she nods and follows them out. But as she leaves she feels his hand clasp hers for a moment and then their fingers slide apart – apart for so long!
He isn't Logan, she tells herself just as she has been since they found him.
"He isn't Logan," Illyana says.
Ororo doesn't deign to reply.
"She knows that," Bobby whispers. "I hope she does."
"This can't be good. You know that don't you, Storm?"
She stops; her face flashes with fury as thunder booms. It's that quick. But just as fast she calms herself, breathes in deeply.
"You gonna be okay?" Bobby asks.
"I am fine. What I do or do not do with whomever I choose to do it with or not is none of your business and we will not be discussing this again."
"I'm afraid you're wrong there. We still don't know if we can trust him," says Illyana.
"Yana's right, I mean, Storm, he killed you! Hell, he killed all of us!" Bobby can't help shouting.
She breaths in deeply again, still feeling his hands on her like he had every right to do what he pleased to her. Like her Logan only rougher, more insistent. But this Logan doesn't pussyfoot around. He took what he wanted. Logan had waited and waited and waited and waited. And then it had been too late. All that wasted time! But this one, he wanted her and wasn't going to pretend he didn't any more. She knows the dance will begin again. She has but to accept or decline.
"You know you're just a booty call to him," Illyana says.
Thunder assaults the skies again and a crash of lightning follows. The skies turn as black as Ororo's mood.
"What's going on?" Jean asks when Storm and Bobby and Illyana enter Hank's lab.
"They were making out," Illyana says flatly.
"Oh!" Jean says looking from Bobby to Ororo, confused by the unexpected pairing.
"What did Hank find, Jean?" Ororo asks.
Back in the Ready Room Logan takes a moment to collect himself. He needs more than a moment. He can hardly walk around the mansion in his excited state. But he can't stop thinking of her so he won't be joining the others any time soon. He thinks of her in his arms, not trying to escape – his – and the way she bit him! He grins, tasting the last trace of blood as he licks his bottom lip.
He hasn't experienced desire like that in all his years. It's difficult to concentrate. He knew he needed her on his side if he planned to stay but he hadn't meant for this to happen. He wants her but he's surprised that just the taste of her and feel of her in his arms has overpowered him and sent reason out the door. He has the worse luck, he thinks but even as he thinks this he grins again remembering her slap, the look of rage mixed with desire and something else – what? Love?
"Okay, stop thinkin' about her, let it go," he tells himself, starting to pace. "I didn't wanna be here in the first place. But I'm here now an' I gotta deal with it."
Deep breaths fail to settle him but then there's the sound of thunder on a sunny day followed by a lightning strike and he's no longer aroused but alarmed and he's running. It's Storm's signature call for help!
Bobby, Jean, Peter, Kurt, and Ororo all stare at Old Man Logan as he comes rushing down the hall.
"You okay?" he demands as he comes to a halt before Ororo and looks her up and down. "What the hell was that? We under attack?"
Ororo looks hard at the man who just minutes ago put his hands all over her. "You could say that but not how you suppose," she murmurs then glances at Bobby.
"What?"
"We leave now," Ororo replies and strides off.
"What's going on?" Logan grumbles as he hurries to catch up. Her beautiful legs were too damn long, he thinks.
"We have found something that we believe will stop the mist from harming further mutants," Kurt says.
"Da, hopefully it will work," Peter says.
"So what is it?"
Peter shrugs, worried about his sister who isn't there. Logan doesn't know it but long ago Peter barely survived a cure for a deadly virus.
"Where's Yana?" Logan asks, his senses picking up Peter's worry and immediately guessing Illyana's absence is the source.
"Gone ahead," is Ororo's abrupt answer.
"Oh. So, we're the cavalry," Logan notes.
The ride to wherever they're going is uncomfortable. Not the seats which are leather and cushy but the silence. He guesses they all know. Bobby's big mouth. Apparently he's the same Bobby from his world except his wasn't gay. A string of curses go through his mind as the others watch him watching Ororo. She's flying the plane and doesn't look anywhere but straight ahead.
"Okay everyone this is how it is," he says drawing everyone's, including Ororo's, attention to him.
"Me an' Ro, what we do's none of your business got that? You people wanted me on the team an' now you got me an' everything that goes with it which ain't always gonna be nice. You already knew that, so what? Anyone got anything ta say then just come out with it!"
"I didn't want you on the team," Bobby admits.
"Yeah, I'm too macho for you, I know. Anyone else got anything?"
"I do."
They all look at Ororo.
"There is nothing between you and me. My Logan is dead. Do not think that you can man handle me for a moment and suddenly I'm yours. No man owns me."
"I will," he says under his breath though those nearest him hear.
"What did you mumble?" Ororo demands, almost rising from her seat.
"We oughta talk later – alone."
"Why when you're the one who brought this up in front of everyone?"
"Well, if ya want everyone here ta know you're so hot for me I could take ya to the back an' make love to ya while the plane's on auto pilot then let's get to it!" he says smugly, entirely sure of himself.
"You are an insufferable, arrogant little man." Ororo turns her attention back to piloting the plane, away from their stares. But she bites her lip in anguish. She is torn. This man is Logan no matter how much she denies it. The hair may be white but his face, his body – his kisses – oh, his kisses . . . !
"Put it on auto pilot."
She catches her breath as his breath blows warm in her ear. Her hands shake. Damn him! She's in charge here!
"Put it on auto pilot."
And she does. Then she jumps up, thrusts her hands onto her hips, fury raging over her beautiful face.
"We'll just talk," he says grinning wickedly and she feels her insides melt.
"We will!" she confirms to all, taking back control. "And we will settle this once and for all!"
"Uh . . . are you . . . um . . . well, what do you want us to do while you two are er . . . ?" Bobby asks, hesitating as they head to the back of the plane ignoring him altogether.
"Maybe you should go too," Jean suggests to Bobby.
"Huh? An' risk havin' that berserker cut me? Uh, no thanks!"
"This can't bode well," Kurt says as he climbs into Ororo's deserted seat to take over if need be.
"Why?" Peter asks. "Ororo loved Logan and he loved her and this Logan seems to care for her too. What's wrong with that?"
"Perhaps you have a point, Peter," Kurt replies thoughtfully.
"Um, well, guys," says Jean, "Hank hasn't told Ororo yet but he thinks the cure for the terrigen mist is Logan – our Logan."
-xox-
"You're not him," she says.
"Glad of it too – man waited forever ta take you. Not me."
His gaze is more than she can handle. This Logan reeks of manliness. He takes no prisoners, he's all bite and sass and . . . and just reeking of manliness in overdrive. It shouldn't be so! Her Logan was all this and more and yet he wasn't because this Logan before her has known her for mere weeks and he's already staked his claim.
Their foreheads press together as he draws her face down to his.
"It wasn't supposed ta be like this. You coerced me ta join up with you with that fight in Limbo. I knew you wanted me from day one an' I didn't want any part of that. You . . ."
"I never indicated to you that I wanted you as more than an ally!"
"It was all over you, your mannerisms, your scent. You gonna deny it?"
"You – you could be him; you're identical save for hair color. I loved him!"
His fingers are hot on her face. Her breath is ragged. He's too close. Kiss me she thinks and yet she pulls away. But he goes after her, pulls her to him, his arms around her waist, his body at a distance still.
"You made this happen, Ro. I would've stayed away from you. Now I can't because I want you as much as you want me an' I'm tired of ignoring it."
"We're strangers. I know nothing of you."
"You know everything about me that matters."
"I did. I-I don't now."
He chuckles. "I'm gonna make love to ya an' then you're never gonna remember him."
She catches her breath, tries to back away, but has no power over her limbs. She's weak, putty in his hands. His eyes consume her. His fingers trace soft caresses over her face. She leans into him all while denying her feelings.
"No," she finally says but she's still in his control, still his, still lost.
"Yes," he whispers and he starts to kiss her but instead his lips merely brush hers and so briefly she leans further into him but he drops his hands, steps back. "I ain't gonna embarrass ya in front of the others, darlin'. You're right I shouldn't have said anything with them around but I know they know what's goin' on between us, the way they keep watchin' us – I had ta call 'em on it."
She tries to smile. "They said nothing," she says feeling relief and disappointment but mostly, she tells herself, relief.
Still, she can't deny anything he's said. He's not her Logan but she wants him. No, she wants him to be Logan, her Logan, without sex, without kisses, she just wants him to be her Logan who she can talk to and confide in. She wants this man but more than that she wants her Logan to be alive.
"We good darlin'?"
"When have we not been?"
"You two never fought?"
"Of course we did as every couple does. I was not a fan of Deadpool popping in when we were . . . well . . ." She smiles at the memory of hiding beneath Logan's bed covers as Wade went on with his zany talk all along knowing that she was there and, in fact, bidding her farewell when he left. So silly now. Now that Logan's gone. Such a little thing, it shouldn't have even mattered. Why had she let little things like that get in the way of her happiness?
Logan laughs. The others look up at the sound. His laughter is rich and deep and full and it's almost contagious. They think she's put him in his place and he's playing it off. They can't see Ororo not being in control. And then they hear her laughter. They're okay now. All of them. When the couple comes back, enough time for a quickie, Bobby thinks but is unsure if anything happened; they are both smiling but silent. Bobby shakes his head while Kurt moves aside for Ororo and he and Peter exchange a look and a grin.
-xox-
Once they get to their destination Peter spots Illyana but she's not alone. Henry McCoy is working on a laptop as he sits cross legged in the grass. Illyana has her soul sword out and is in demon mode. She appears to be guarding a huge lump of adamantium. Ororo goes cold, stops mid stride, she can barely breathe, think.
"No," she whispers.
They all know what it is. Except Logan.
"Ororo, I apologize for not informing you of – well, I didn't for fear of disappointing you my dear," says Hank.
"What's wrong?" Logan asks, stepping beside her.
They all stare. He's used to the stares but senses this is different.
"Logan . . ." Ororo utters and falls to her knees before the lump of metal.
"What's wrong, Ro? What's wrong?" Logan immediately falls beside her, there for her, his arm around her, holding her, supporting her.
Kurt places a hand on her shoulder and Peter moves close and places a hand on her other shoulder. Jean kneels before her. Even Illyana looks concerned.
"What's going on? Why're you all – what is that thing?"
"It's you," Jean says looking at him. "Or the you that we know although I didn't know him long. Hank thinks . . . well . . ."
Logan looks up at Hank, understanding now. "You think a dead man's healing factor that couldn't heal him an' keep him from dying is your answer for the mist?"
"I believe so," replies Hank, steadfast.
"Then he's dead, really dead in there?"
Hank looks at Ororo. They are all silent.
"I believe the man that is encased in this adamantium is not alive," Hank replies.
"As in d-e-a-d?" he spells out wanting Hank to spell it out.
But Hank gently nudges Jean aside and as Jean gets up Hank helps their leader stand.
"Henry, how could you keep this from me?"
"I would never risk giving you false hope, Ororo. I know – we all know how you felt about . . ."
"Peter," she says, cutting Hank off for there is a job to be done. "Can you get him to the plane?"
"Da, of course," Peter says and in an instant he is no longer flesh and blood but a gleaming creature of metal that hefts the adamantium easily.
"Our Logan is dead, it is best to let the dead be," Kurt says, putting a hand on Logan's arm as the old man stands.
"But you guys die all the time," Bobby reminds them.
"We are still here, all of us," Ororo says, following Peter.
"She means you died and survived too this time," says Illyana who is itching to summon one of her stepping disc and take herself, Ororo, Peter and the lump of adamantium that is Logan that they knew to Limbo to get away from this old man who claims he's Logan but isn't.
There is no sound on the flight back. No one looks at anyone. Logan is stunned. Truthfully he's worried and hurt, feelings he doesn't like to admit. He's lived too long to care anymore. He'd tried and lost – lost everything. Why did she have to drag him back into the X-Men again, back to life again?
There is a dead man in the jet. Ororo sits with him in the cargo bay. She will not let Illyana take him. Kurt flies the plane. Everything seems to be falling apart even as it falls together.
They disembark in silence. Logan's brow is furrowed as he watches Ororo walking beside Peter who carries the encased carcass of the man that he wants to slice into a million pieces.
"She loved him very much," Jean says as she comes up beside him.
He looks at the young woman then looks back at Ororo.
"They had a unique relationship, you should understand that from what you told me about the Jean from your world and you," Jean continues, falling into step with him. "I mean they weren't married or anything like that, and personally I think he should have asked her to marry him, but this is a new day, I mean it's just a whole new world where anything goes." She shakes her head as she considers the Internet and other things she didn't know in her day and especially how easy it is to make out with anyone.
"If he wouldn't marry her he didn't love her enough," he snarls.
Jean finds herself bobbing her head in agreement. She'd fully expected Scott to marry her if he'd wanted to get to anything but first base. Now there is no Scott which she's glad about but not. Meeting boys has been hard. She just hopes she's saved herself from her tragic fate and won't die after killing billions.
"Did your – uh – did your Jean become the Phoenix?" she asks timidly.
"Huh? You mean Jeannie? Yeah. Why?"
"No reason."
Logan remembers now why this Jean is so young and he looks at Hank who is talking to Ororo as they contemplate where to store the dead man. Logan doesn't care that he didn't remember anything about this Jean because she's insignificant. Ororo is the only one that matters to him.
The plan turns out to be absurd he thinks. Cut the dead man out. They have no adamantium knives or axes or chainsaws. The only thing that can cut adamantium is him. He's their tool but he refuses to be their tool.
"Surely you see this is the only way!" Hank insists.
"So, my healing factor can't help you invent a serum to reverse the effect of the mist but his might an' the guy's been dead for how long?"
"But you must see that he's been sealed air tight, hermetically so! His DNA must be viable much like DNA of some, albeit rare, fossils!"
Ororo turns away from the others, her hand going to her heart. Logan sees this and further explodes but he contains himself and just turns and leaves. He'll be damned if he brings back the man that she thinks she wants because he's the man she wants now and he'll make damn sure she knows it!
"How long . . . ?"
"To implement an adamantium implement?" Henry jokes but quickly looks sheepish when Ororo's angry gaze falls upon him. "It is of course a backup plan I've been working on, my dear. But let me reiterate that Logan, the Logan that we all knew, is not alive. No man can live without air."
Ororo feels as if she's been condemned to relive a thousand sorrows every time she thinks of Logan or looks at this older Logan. She's too vulnerable when she returns to her room.
He is there, waiting for her, pacing. He stops when she enters and then he is upon her. He grabs her, shuts the door, gives her no time to speak. His mouth covers hers, demanding, persistent. She gives in. There is no resisting. She wants Logan. He is Logan. She loves him. She needs him. And he needs her to need him. He needs her to know it is him that she wants and will always want.
There is no way to describe their love making because there are no words to explain the love, the need, the passion and the pain. They are in a dance, he leads she follows though she'd meant not to accept.
She is his and when it's over she cries.
He holds her till she sleeps. She is his and he knows that she knows this now. He will die before he gives her up.
"I love him," she tells him when she wakes.
"You made love to me!" he shouts.
"I – I did. I love you but you're him. I'm sorry. I love him."
She is in his arms, her head falling against his chest and he doesn't let her go. Her words are like a sledge hammer pounding at his bones and his bones crumble into fine dust with each declaration.
"I don't take losin' well," he says.
"It isn't a contest."
"No, Ororo because he's dead! You're mine whether you like it or not. We – it's just what it is. He's dead, we're alive."
She cannot find words to explain.
"Marry me."
"What? You can't be serious!"
"I love you, Ororo. Marry me. You're mine already. He never made you his! You need me! I need you and let's face it he can't be here for you anymore! You love me. I'm alive, he's dead. Ro, he's dead!"
"I don't – I can't – I won't betray him!"
"Ya already slept with me, what was that if ya weren't betrayin' him?"
"It – you – I – you -you don't understand."
"For cryin' out loud, Ro he's dead, what's there ta understand? You can't live the rest of your life in memory of a dead man who didn't have the sense enough to even marry you! If he loved you like you loved him he would've made you his forever!"
"Our relationship was . . . different."
"Give all the excuses you want but what I'm saying's the truth, darlin'! Did he ask you to marry him? Did he?"
"No!" she screams, sitting up moving away from him and burying her face in her hands. "No! He didn't, he didn't!"
He gathers her to him as she cries. It hurts him to hurt her but he will break her if he has to in order to make sure she knows there is no hope in a dead man.
"I'll make love to you every day, every night and never leave you. I'll protect you through the fires of hell. No one will ever hurt you. Never."
"You can't promise that," she says as she wipes at her tears.
"It's not a promise as much as fact. We were meant for each other for whatever reason, that's just how it is. We can't stop thinkin' about each other or wantin' each other. I'm old, Ro an' who knows how much time I have? I ain't wastin' the time I got. Marry me."
"But . . ."
"He's dead, Ro. Darlin' just marry me."
"I want you to cut him out," she says.
"What? No! I ain't gonna do that!"
"You will."
"Hell no I won't!"
"I order you to!"
"No."
"Please."
"Why should I?"
"Henry believes this could save us. I-I want children one day."
"You want kids?" He's totally surprised.
"Your children," she says and means it.
His face falls. "I've been there, done that. They don't live. I ain't going there again."
"They did not have me for a mother," she says with such determination and emphasis that he looks at her, his head cocked to one side, and he suddenly grins.
"We'd have beautiful kids," he says.
She smiles. She can see their future. She can see herself marrying this man who is Logan. She can see herself with a baby, toddlers, teenagers. No one could ever harm their children.
"You're gonna marry me then." It is a statement needing no response.
"And you will get him out," she replies with a statement of her own.
She closes her eyes as he lets out a stream of profanity. And then he has her in his arms shaking her. She fights to escape but he pulls her hard against him and finally she sinks against him.
"I'm going to tame you, Ro. You don't give the orders here."
"You will never tame me and I do give . . ."
He is on top of her, owning her, giving her no chance to say no, no chance to find words because he knows she wants him as much as he wants her. But through the passion filled love making she also knows he will do what she wants because he wants her as much as she wants him.
-xox-
The skies have been overcast all week. When it isn't raining it's storming sleet and hail. There's been no break. They all walk about as if on egg shells. This dance isn't to their liking. While Hank works on getting their Logan free from his adamantium tomb their boss is nowhere to be found. This Logan is a problem. When he's not out tracking her he paces, sullen and threatening, cursing, growling. It is obvious she wants nothing to do with him. They wish things could go back to the way it was at first with him watching her every move and her secretly observing him.
"He still refuses to assist," Hanks says. "And I don't believe he's going to change his mind, Ororo."
"He will."
"You said that a week ago and he still hasn't."
"He will."
"Do you mind if I ask . . . ?"
"I do, Henry. I'm sorry but it is . . ."
"Extremely complicated. I understand but . . ."
"The heart is a complicated thing. I love him and yet he isn't my Logan. My Logan is dead inside this." Ororo rests her hands on the metal.
She has been locked away with her Logan since Old Man Logan refused her request after their night of wild love making. Furious, she left him and covered her trail with the wildest of wind storms blowing away any trace of her scent. The others weren't pleased with cleanup detail afterward but it was a necessary move. She knows he wants her and he will give in even as she must give in to him. She will be his wife but he will do her bidding.
"It isn't wrong for you to love someone else, Ororo."
"I wish I didn't feel as if it were."
Hank sighs. He wishes Kitty were with them so she could slip inside the adamantium and free Logan's body and console Ororo. He's not very good with emotions.
"How do you stop loving someone?"
"Why can't you continue loving our Logan while loving this new one?"
She smiles sadly. "My heart tells me that's possible but my mind, my loyalty, is to Logan – my Logan."
"Well, whatever you decide I wish you'd do it soon because the wild and woolly Wolverine is scaring the daylights out of Jean and the others."
"Certainly not Illyana," Ororo says with a wry chuckle.
"No, of course not, but her demons are pretty terrified. He's taken to using them as a type of danger room session."
Ororo shakes her head but she still smiles. There is something about the man Logan whether it's her Logan or an older version. They are one of a kind. No man can get to her like him. Even with him refusing her she wants him.
"Send him to me," she says.
"Are you certain?"
Ororo wraps her arms around Hank and kisses him on the cheek. "Tell him I have made my choice."
"And . . . may I ask what that choice is?"
"We shall have to see."
It's not long before Logan bursts into the room. Hank is close behind.
"You better be glad I didn't skin Blue Boy here!" Logan says as he comes up to her.
"And why would you do something like that?"
"He reeks of you."
"I merely hugged him," she says, smiling inwardly.
"Your saliva's on his face too!"
"I kissed him on the cheek nothing more."
He calms down noticeably, looks her up and down. Even Hank can feel the sexual tension between them but he is forgotten and so he stays to watch the show.
"I want you to cut here," she says, turning and pointing to the bottom of the adamantium prison.
He scowls, pressing his lips tightly together.
She turns back to him. They know the deal is the same. He frees his dead rival and she is his. They watch each other. He smells her desire and he knows she is his and will remain his if she becomes his wife. Still, he shakes his head.
"No," he says flat out.
-xox-
"They what?" the X-Men exclaim upon hearing Illyana's news.
She nods. "They're married."
"That's crazy!" Bobby shrieks.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Bobby!" Jean exclaims.
"Huh?"
"How do you know this?" Peter asks though he believes he already knows.
"I took them where she asked me to – to the justice of the peace."
"Ah," Peter says.
"You took them?" Bobby cries.
Illyana shrugs. "It was inevitable. No matter what argument I had she wasn't listening. She didn't listen to Hank either." She shrugs again. "She's not thinking clearly, to her he's Logan."
"Well, he did say he would make her his," Kurt muses with a smile. "And he is, after all, very much like our Logan, a man of his word."
"But this is just . . ."
"Weird," Jean supplies, interrupting Bobby.
"It's a whole lot of weird at that," Illyana remarks.
"Are you okay with this?" Jean asks Bobby.
"Huh? Why wouldn't I be? I'm not remotely attracted to Logan!"
"I thought you and Ororo . . ."
He laughs. "Well, maybe if you didn't think I was . . ."
"Confused?" Kurt asks with a frown. "You know I do not judge but you never indicated at all that you were, well, that you liked men, not in all the years we've known you."
"Batting for the other team," Peter says with a little laugh. "Ah, but who cares?"
"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! You guys we've got a bigger problem than a triangle with Ororo and Logan and Bobby!" Jean cries.
"A triangle?" Bobby cries totally confused.
"Our Logan's not dead! I can hear his thoughts – he's confused and – we should get Ororo, he needs her!"
"Vas? How?"
"I don't know, Kurt but we better tell her."
"Our Logan isn't dead!" Kurt enthuses.
"Will they even notice? They haven't come out of her room for hours!" Illyana says.
"Wow, what a way to spend your honeymoon!" Bobby says.
"What? You mean just because she married an older version of her dead boyfriend who should still be
dead but isn't and, in fact, is just a few floors below her in the lab?" Jean asks.
Bobby laughs. They all look at him.
"What? We need some levity here!"
"So, they are married on their honeymoon and Logan – our Logan survives as always!" Peter summarizes thoughtfully.
"Maybe we should just get to the lab, check on Logan and then tell her."
"I think that's a bad idea, Bobby," Illyana says.
"Let's just feel things out beforehand that's all I'm saying."
"I agree with Bobby," Kurt says. "Ororo wasn't counting on this. How will she feel now that the man she loved first is dead no longer?"
"Da. And I thought it would be a good thing for her to be in love again but you were right, Kurt. What
good can come of this?" Peter says.
-xox-
Old Man Logan only freed his rival after Ororo married him. Then Hank immediately carried the adamantium filled body to a special gurney and proceeded to examine it. A nervous Ororo remained outside the lab secretly frighten of seeing the corpse of the man she was still in love with. She might have dared to go in when Logan came out and told her it was done but he'd picked her up, tossed her over his shoulder and carried her off. His caveman manner was an overwhelming aphrodisiac and somehow it was easy to let him carry her off, easier to make love to her husband rather than view the corpse of the man she still loved.
Sometimes you just want to be loved. Sometimes you just want to be held. And you never want your lover to let go. He ravished her like a desperate man might if he thought he only had days to live. She felt as if she were drowning in desire, grief and love and pain. She had promised her husband that she was his and she would keep her word. She loved him. She could be happy with him. If not for the cadaver in the lab. Even so she matched his fervor, move per move, glad now that she's accepted this dance.
-xox-
"I think we should leave these rookies an' start that family you wanted," he says as he holds her.
"After a cure is found perhaps we shall," she says, curling up closer to him, drowsy from long lovemaking.
He senses when she drifts into sleep and his heart is full. She is his, the dead man in the lab forgotten. But he can't sleep because the dead man is still in the lab.
Much later he hears a rushing of feet coming down the hall and he sighs. They bang on the door. She stirs. He knows she's dead tired. He gently slips his arm from beneath her then eases out of bed.
They stare at a very naked Logan. Modesty and age haven't caught up to him they see. He's ripped, beautifully in shape, and very virile.
"Logan," Jean ventures. "Er . . .uh . . ." She is flustered, not knowing where to look so Kurt takes over.
"Ororo needs to come down to the lab."
"No, she doesn't," he says.
"Perhaps it would be best then if you came instead," Kurt suggests.
"Alright."
"After, of course, you put some clothes on," Kurt reminds him.
They're both surprised at how accommodating he is as he looks back at his sleeping bride then goes back in, slips into underwear and pants then shuts the door quietly behind him and follows them to the lab barefooted.
He sees the others standing around the gurney with the body. He smells death as he enters the lab. This reassures him but as they all turn to look at him he notices the smell is not there on the table but only a fading scent in the air.
"He's alive!" Bobby cries then shrugs as they all look at him. "What? Someone had to say it 'cause, well, he's alive!"
Logan stops in his tracks. He immediately thinks of Ororo. But she is his wife. He will not give her up and he knows she will not break her word. She is his.
There is a younger version of himself looking at him when he approaches. Almost instinctively the others step aside. The two men stare at each other. It is a curious sight. But then the Logan just back from the dead jerks up, tumbles from the gurney falls to the floor then immediately scrambles up. The growl he lets out scares everyone in the room. Everyone except Old Man Logan and Illyana of course.
"Oh my stars and garters!" Hank cries, both fascinated and stunned into inaction.
Bobby, who is not particularly attached to either Logan, immediately tries to encase their Logan in ice but Old Man Logan is already upon his rival and the two are quickly bound together in a grotesque statue of ice and limbs. It isn't hard for either to break free.
"Jean, get Ororo down here now!" Hank shouts suddenly aware that the situation is out of control.
Jean's head bobs up and down repeatedly as she nods and nods because she's tried calming them down but being inside their heads is futile. And it hurts. She's sure this is the legendary berserker mode she's heard about but never witnessed. She feels a migraine coming on but she contacts Ororo who is dreaming of Logan with the white hair and . . . ew, too much information, she thinks and immediately pulls out of Ororo's mind.
"Is she coming?" Kurt asks anxiously.
"Uh . . . she . . . uh . . . she's sleeping . . . uh . . . really deep."
Illyana rolls her eyes, summons a disc and she's gone.
"Should we try to stop them?" Peter asks, unconcerned for they both apparently heal, after all their Logan should be dead.
"I doubt that would work," Kurt says and Hank nods in agreement.
Hank is fascinated. He knows if he can draw blood, harvest his cells, examine DNA, he can find the cure. It is exciting and wonderful.
Logan goes flying through the air past Peter and Kurt who leap back. Old Man Logan runs after him anxious to finish this. The others move to the opposite side of the room.
There is a flash of light and Illyana, looking determined and deadly, is there with their boss who looks utterly terrified.
"Logan!" she cries out.
The two Logan's see her and suddenly stop. Logan starts stalking toward her but Old Man Logan steps in front of him. They do not know this but it is her scent that started the attack. Her scent mixed with his but not his. Her scent on an older version of himself! Logan and Logan, bleeding and panting heavily, stare at each other.
"Oh, man!" Bobby exclaims.
Their Logan sniffs the air as he looks from Ororo to Old Man Logan.
"Logan, I need you to listen to me, both of you," Ororo says, her voice quiet, calm, soothing.
The two healing Logan's look at their woman, their mate.
"She's my wife," Old Man Logan says with a smirk, already fighting for his woman, as he turns back to Logan in time to see his mouth open in shock.
"She was mine first," Logan growls despite his shock. "And she's still mine but what the hell, Ro? Who is this old guy? And what're you doin' sleeping with him? An' you married him? What the fuck?"
Ororo does the only thing she can do. She faints. Or at least she pretends to faint because for all her vaulted strength of will she simply has no answers.
Everyone runs to her aid. Except the real Logan.
Old man Logan leans over her clearly worried.
"You son of a bitch!" Logan growls as he watches the man hold his woman. "You took over my life! And why'd you guys let him? Huh?"
"You were dead, Logan," Kurt says. "How could we know . . .?"
"Yeah, good ta see you too, Elf."
Kurt grins because the intruder Logan has never once called him Elf.
"Everything changed after you died," Jean says. "I can show you if you want."
He nods and she does. After a bit he just shakes his head, trying to understand the craziness.
"A lot has happened," Peter says. "We live in Illyana's Limbo now."
"Yeah. Hi to you too, Petey."
Peter grins just like Kurt. This is their Logan!
"Logan, uh, I think you should know this guy manipulated Storm into marrying him. Storm didn't know you would come back from the dead – none of us did," Illyana says. "Tell him, Hank."
Hank nods. "She was deeply hurt when you died, Logan. I had to take her out into space in order for her to safely release her grief and anger she was so upset."
"So she missed me, what of it? She didn't miss me enough for her not ta turn around an' marry some ancient carbon copy of me!"
"Oh, that's showing his age – carbon copy – ha ha!" Bobby says which Jean thinks, kind of shows Bobby's age too.
"Bobby, that's enough!" Hank warns in exasperation. "Listen to me, Logan! The Inhuman's terrigen mist has been killing mutants, making us sterile, and I've been searching for a cure. I discovered a substance that seemed as if it would be just what I need and it was you! I didn't tell Ororo because there was no need to burden her.
"When you were covered with the adamantium your body merged with it and for all intents and purposes you should be dead but your magnificent healing factor, for reasons I can barely deduce and will not bore you with, went into overdrive thereby sustaining you, essentially an adamantium man in hibernation! And now you, my friend, can change our fate. You expelled the excess adamantium from your body in mere hours, your healing factor has accelerated to such an extent that I believe you could possibly give all mutants hope again!"
"I didn't have a healing factor when I died, Hank, that's why I died!"
"So true and isn't that a curiosity! But in all honesty so much has happened since your death. I would surmise that the adamantium and the terrigen mist interacted in some way and yet who can truly know since worlds merged and so much has happened. There are no answers as to why Old Man Logan is here or why you also are here with an enhanced healing factor when you died with no healing factor at all. We can merely marvel."
"Marvel?"
"Marvel, yes," Hank sighs with elation at all the ramifications of the mixing of worlds. Marvel indeed!
"Uh, you guys, is Ororo okay?" Jean asks.
"Her breathing is even. Let her rest, she's worn out," Old Man Logan comments as he looks at his wife.
"So, just like that you were gonna experiment on me, cut me up?" their Logan says.
"You were dead, Logan mein freund," Kurt gently reminds him.
"It is good to have you back tovarish," Peter says, grinning.
"Yeah. Good ta be back," he says and walks over to Ororo and Old Man Logan.
He remembers dying. His last thoughts were not for the people that he'd saved but of his loved ones, Kitty, but she's not even there; Jubilee, missing too, and Ororo, his woman.
"She wanted me," the Old Man says, his eyes on Ororo now. "She asked me ta help. But she wanted me. I could smell it all over her. She . . . missed you. She loved you. She didn't want ta . . . betray you even though she believed you were dead We made a deal. She married me so I would cut you out of the adamantium."
They are all silent.
"We could be happy. I've never known anyone like her. The nightmares – they're gone when I'm with her. I don't think about my wife, my kids, the X-Men that I slaughtered. I'm at peace when I'm with her. I love her. I love her more than I've ever loved any woman. I won't give her up." And now he looks at Logan and there is no give in the man. He is too old to back down, too determined not to fight for what is his. He is, after all, just an older Logan.
"Ro ain't gonna stay with you now that I'm back are ya, darlin'? Oh, stop pretendin' ya fainted! I know you never faint though this jerk don't seem ta know it."
Ororo sits up in Old Man Logan's arms where she feels safe and certain. Logan squats before the couple that could be a reflection of himself and Ororo perhaps in old age if Ororo didn't age. He slowly shakes his head.
"Darlin' what did you do?"
She doesn't want to look at her Logan but he is hers and so she must. And as she knew it would, all her certainty while in her husband's arms is washed away, replaced with heartbreak.
"I'm . . . I'm so sorry," she whispers feeling heavy with regret and grief and pain.
"Me too," he says and shaking his head he stands then walks through the upturned room and out the door.
"Where's he going?" Bobby asks.
"Maybe to bed. I'm going to bed," Jean says. "My head is killing me. Goodnight guys."
Ororo pushes away from her husband and gets up. She would follow Logan and Jean but her husband stops her. Her stomach is heaving. She can't stop thinking, Logan and Jean! Logan and Jean! Logan and Jean! She feels as if she will die if she can't get to them.
"There is no need to worry about them, Ororo, he loves you not a little girl," Peter says to her quietly realizing his long time friend's fear.
She falls against her little brother of old and he holds her. And Old Man Logan lets him. Her lover has rejected her and he knows it will be hard for her to get past this. But they will.
-xox-
It is a dance that no one can understand and that no one wants a part of. But Ororo is trapped in this dance now whether she wishes it or not. Ororo, married to an older version of her erstwhile deceased lover is overwrought. And who can blame her? Only Hank is happy and full of dreams. Ororo's dreams have died. It is true that she loves Old Man Logan but she knows it is because he is Logan.
Things don't usually get better for the X-Men they usually get worse. This is no different.
"You are telling me that our Logan must sacrifice himself in order for you to develop a cure?" Ororo cries, incredulous.
"Yes I am afraid so and I'm so sorry but I can find no other way, Ororo."
"No! Your solution is unacceptable – find another way!"
"I believe Logan would be willing to sacrifice himself."
"I don't care what you believe, Henry! I realize this is important but you are playing with people's lives – with my life!"
"Ororo, my dear I understand that you're upset but . . ."
"Upset is the understatement of a lifetime, Henry! I am beyond upset and fast losing patience with you! You will find a different way to end this or we will simply have to live with the fact that we mutants will never be able to reproduce and will die off!"
"But, Ororo . . . !"
"There are no but's, Henry! You will save Logan or we will all have to accept our fate. I will not lose him again!"
"And yet, if I may be so bold, it would seem as if you have already lost him."
Thunder rumbles and Hank knows he should have kept quiet but his leader's unrealistic request of him is too much.
"You will not kill Logan and that is my final word. You will have to come up with a different solution. I was not there for Peter during the Legacy virus threat but I will not let you take Logan's life no matter what you say!"
"And yet you yourself will never be able to bear children, Ororo!"
"I will not change my mind. Find another solution!"
"Ororo . . . !"
"You underestimate your extraordinary intelligence, Henry! I have faith in you although I am not pleased that you kept all of this from me. Do as I say or leave."
"Leave . . . ?"
"Do as I say or leave."
There is no give in Ororo. She will not lose Logan again even if she cannot be with him again. She will always be faithful to her husband but she will not risk the man she loves and nothing will sway her.
-xox-
"Ororo, let's go away," her husband suggests as he holds her.
"I will never leave Logan whether we are married or not."
He is silenced. She is adamant. He feels he's lost the chance to finish this dance of a lifetime with the woman whom he'd tried so hard not to become involved with and yet whom he believes he was destined to love. He wonders that he never made a move with the Ororo from his world. There had been some flirtation, but he'd been so blind. Would they have had children? He knows that she would have fought ferociously for their children just as his Ororo would.
It's a painful memory though – his children. And now perhaps he will not have the chance to rebuild a family and a life, with hope and love and happiness. It seems to him that his life was never meant to be what he's always longed for. He should be dead like everyone else from his world. By all rights he shouldn't have a second chance. He shouldn't have to lose a second chance!
"I should be dead," he murmurs and hears her sob.
But he isn't dead and neither is the man she loved first. He is sick to death as he holds onto this woman who he believes is the best thing that has ever happened to her. But whether his rival is alive or dead or they go or stay, she remains hiswife – his!
-xox-
They do not have adamantium proof doors and a lock does not keep Logan out. He stands in the doorway, fragments of the door hanging precariously. Enraged over what was taking place behind the closed door, now he is frozen in place. They are sitting there wrapped in covers as if waiting for him. Ororo is in Old Man Logan's arms and she looks ill . . . because she is. He does not let his wife go. He refuses to give her up.
The men stare at each other in silence. She would tell Logan to go but she can't. Logan's eyes turn to Ororo who sits with her head held high. She is with her husband and she will stand her ground despite her breaking heart.
The silence is long and hard. And those that had gathered outside creep away. They know there is nothing they can do when Logan is in this mood even if it's not an infamous berserker mood.
"So you've made your choice," Logan says.
"There is no choice to make," Ororo says though her voice is broken for she is broken.
Logan nods slowly. He feels as if his insides are collapsing and he too will collapse. She is not his and will never be again.
"Don't go, please," Ororo says staying her husband with her hand on his arm when he starts to get up as if to follow Logan who has left them in peace.
"You chose me," he says, sitting down again marveling at her choice.
She wraps her arms around him and holds onto him tight. And he welcomes her embrace, her love, their future.
-xox-
It is another day and nothing has changed. Except for a new door. And the rain hasn't stopped. She is still in love with her husband's double. But he is her husband and she can love him because he is her lover's double. But he is miserable. She is his but he knows she will never be his completely. It shouldn't be this way. He wasn't supposed to be there, hadn't meant to take her up on her offer. She lured him with her desire, her need. He wishes he'd never met her. He wishes Logan was dead.
The sound of the comm link is loud and urgent. Neither move to answer it. She wants him to hold her, to ward off the dread she feels, to ease her heartbreak.
"So, we leave," he says.
She nods because she sees now that she must get away from the man she longs for.
"Let's just tell 'em when we get ta wherever we're going."
She nods again as the comm link goes off again. They continue to ignore it.
Not much later a sphere of bright light startles them and Illyana is standing before them boldly and defiantly.
He's not Logan, Ororo imagines Illyana thinking and she is right. But he freed her Logan and now Logan will live again because of him.
"I thought you'd want to know Logan's gonna let Hank murder him now in order to save us," the girl says.
Ororo is up and reaching for her clothes. She is chilled to her core. She will murder Hank if he lets anything happen to Logan.
"Really, is that such a bad thing, Ro?" he asks. "You wanted kids, we . . ."
"It is unacceptable! You and I will leave and he can take over but I will not allow Henry to kill him for any cure even if it were to cure all illnesses in this world!"
"Y-you love him that much?"
"I have never lied to you – yes!"
He nods and gets up, quickly slips into his clothes sans shoes.
"Take me to the lab, Yana," he says as his wife is still dressing.
"No," Illyana says not afraid of this man who is not Logan to her.
"Thank you, Illyana," Ororo says as she finishes dressing. Soon she steps beside Illyana and they disappear. All three of them.
"No!" Ororo immediately cries when she is transported to the lab and sees Logan resting on a table plugged into wires and things she knows will kill him.
"Ro!" Logan is startled by her presence and the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance.
"Ororo, please! Control yourself! This is Logan's choice!" Hank says.
"I am in charge here, Henry McCoy and you will do what I say or you will leave as I warned before."
"Ro, just get outta here," Logan on the table says.
"I will not let you do this, Logan!" she cries as she comes to stand beside him.
It is then that the other Logan realizes no one there has ever called him by his name really. Not even in moments of passion with his wife did she call him Logan. He was never accepted, never a part of them, never Logan to them.
"You'll be happier with him darlin' ya married him after all," Logan says as her hand links with his and even though he holds on tight.
"No!" Ororo roars grasping his hand tighter.
"You made your choice an' it ain't me; just pretend I never came back 'cause I am."
"But I love you, Logan – he's only a shadow of you!"
"Well, you chose him, what did you expect me ta do, take you back after you slept with him an' ya keep sleepin' with him now that I'm back? The hell am I supposed ta be okay with that?"
"I didn't plan for this to happen, Logan! You were dead! He's my husband and I – I love him because he's you but he's not the man I fell in love with, he's not the man I've known almost all my adult life, and he's not the man I spent a year alone with in Fantomex's World!"
"I forced her," Old Man Logan says, now standing beside his wife.
"You what?"
"I forced her," Old Man Logan repeats and there is no hint of a lie in his look or manner.
"I'm gonna kill you!" Logan screams as he tries to break free of his bonds.
"No. Let me just be done with this and you and every mutant can go on living. You and Ororo can have a family."
They all are taken aback.
"If this is what you want I believe I can make it work. You would have to be submerged in adamantium, however," Hank says, always thinking ahead. "But even if you revived, though there is little likelihood of you reviving like Logan did, I would of course need vital – well, shall we say you would again die. I'm afraid there are such different factors between you and our Logan, he had no healing factor and you have yours and then there's the age factor. I can make no guarantees I'm afraid."
"I accept the risks," Old Man Logan replies.
"Then get to it an' die Old Man!" Logan shouts. And Old Man Logan does. He walks to the tank that Hank leads him to.
Ororo is full of conflicting emotions. She feels ill and she's stunned. She wants to stop him but her feet feel leaden and she cannot move. She watches as he climbs up the ladder to the tank.
"You will allow this?" Hank asks her sharply before proceeding further.
Ororo shakes her head and walks over to the tank, to her husband.
"I love you," he tells her.
"I love you too," she says and he leans down and kisses her tenderly.
"Be happy," he says with a smile.
"I don't want this," she says.
"But I ain't him," he says without looking at her. He knows if he looks at her again he will not be strong enough to do this.
"But you're my . . ."
"I'm not. I never was. I ain't him," he says as he steps into the tank then lies down and closes his eyes. His last sight of this world, a world where he never belonged, is of Ororo with a look of love and sadness on her beautiful face. She loves him! And in this moment he realizes he's always known how their dance would end. And it isn't as hard as he thought it would be to give himself up for the greater good because he's found love again and though it is bittersweet it is enough, enough for a lifetime.
"He didn't force you did he?" Logan says as he comes up beside Ororo after Hank frees him but only after strapping Old Man Logan securely in his death bed.
Ororo cannot look away from the tank as it fills with the liquid metal that is taking her husband's life.
When Logan touches her arm she jerks with a start.
"It shouldn't have to be this way," she says. She looks at her Logan but she is numb inside. She just helped her husband kill himself to save people that she doesn't care anything about. She just let her husband sacrifice himself for this man who is looking at her with clear uncertainty. And she sees that they are finished and she feels low, so low.
He watches her leave as Hank does what he needs to do in his deathly but life giving experiment. He wants to go after her but she smells of him and she shouldn't. He is hurt and troubled. He loves her. He wants to forgive her but he can't. She willing slept with and married an impostor. He obviously meant nothing to her despite her protests. Yet he knows she is sincere in her love for him. Still, pride, foolishness, whatever it is, he simply cannot bring himself to go after her.
-xox-
It is not easy to lose a husband whether he was but a duplicate of the man you loved or not. Ororo does not know how to exorcise the past few weeks and Logan is unsure he can deal with what she did to him for he considers it a betrayal of the worse kind.
They circle each other politely, all business and nothing more. Perhaps she needs time to grieve, perhaps she needs space. She doesn't know. The others watch curiously. They know that this is not a dance but a never ending circle and that this couple is meant for each other even if they do not see how to get past the man Ororo married.
It takes a demon girl to help them see the truth.
"Logan! Illyana!" Ororo cries out when the two appear in her bedroom. She has taken a new room with no memories of her departed husband.
"Well, we took a vote – not Logan though, he's clueless – but I'm here to fix everything because Jean says you love each other and Kurt says you two are too blind to see it isn't that hard to fix."
Logan was caught off guard when Illyana waylaid him and suddenly transported him. He shrugs now as he looks at the woman he loves. She sits up in her bed and starts to pull the covers over her bare body but then she lets them fall. She has nothing to hide and never has.
"Maybe we should talk, Ro," he says.
"Maybe we should," she agrees.
"Just tell me where you want me to take you when you finish, uh, talking," Illyana says with a grin before she teleports away.
"It was always you, Logan – always," she says.
He looks over her lovely figure and he wants her. She sees that he wants her and she scrambles across the bed to go to him.
Her arms go around him and he lets her lean against him. After a few hesitant seconds he wraps his arms around her, presses her against him. He is engulfed with her scent and as always he needs her. There is no trace of his rival's scent on her and his fight to forgive her is suddenly won. He loves her.
"I won't give you excuses for why I married a man that I wanted to be you, Logan. I loved you and you . . . you were gone and he was you. But you're back now and if you can understand then can we . . . ?"
"Can we what?"
She pulls away from him, looks at him through her tears. "Can we please get past this?"
"What? Ya don't want me ta marry ya like he did?"
"That was him. I realize you and I don't . . ."
"Don't what? I don't love ya enough ta marry you?"
"Logan . . ."
"I guess I never said the words, huh?"
Ororo is silent.
"I do love you, Ro."
"I knew that but it is good to hear."
"I shoulda told you every day we were together darlin'."
"I believe neither of us felt the need. But I could love no other man, Logan. I'm so . . ."
"No," he says, stopping her from apologizing as he touches her lips with a finger. "I'm sorry, Ro darlin'," he admits because his pride has had time to heal and every day seeing her, not able to touch her, has done him in.
"I will always love you, Logan, through death and into eternity," she says, eyes bright with tears.
"So then you chose me all along," he whispers and he knows – they know they have survived this. He loves her and he will do all within his power to never lose her again.
And he does what any Logan would do. He picks her up and takes her to bed. Memories of the past that is no more, of Deadpool's visits, a year spent together alone in the World and with no X-Men, of love, death and desire and peace, all these things assail them. He is no longer angry with her; no longer hurt. They love each other and as it is said, love conquers all and so it is with them.
They do not take Illyana up on her offer but are married in a beautiful outdoor ceremony some weeks later. Not in Limbo. After Hank has discovered the cure he was so sure of. Mutants from all over come. Because of Logan they are saved. Old Man Logan is forgotten for he was Logan and if one Logan gave his life for a cure after the other Logan was found to be the solution for the cure it is still Logan who has saved their lives and their futures.
It is a time of celebration for everyone. Sunshine abounds. And after the wedding, the honeymoon, Ororo finds, is better the second time around. The passion is still as fierce but there is now a deep need to just be together whether locked in an embrace or just lying side by side. And this, they know is love, true love as it is meant to be.
~Finis~