"There is one more thing I must tell you, Logan."
Logan and Professor X had been sitting in his study for hours, discussing what had changed when he stopped Magneto from killing President Nixon and when Mystique disappeared. He knew Jean, Scott, Rogue and Bobby weren't dead. Everything they had done while facing Magneto and Mystique didn't occur. It was peaceful time for mutants.
"You mean besides everyone being alive?" Logan sniped, taking another swig of scotch.
"It's about you."
"What did I do that I need to know?"
Before the Professor could speak, a woman burst into the Professor's office. "Professor, do you know where—" She started, then landed her eyes on Logan and placed her hands on her hips. Logan couldn't help but rake his eyes over her body. Curves in all the right places, nut-brown skin, glistening black hair, and her golden eyes made him speechless. For some reason, he felt drawn to her.
"You know, you need work on being pretend sick, James." She frowned.
"What?" He replied. No one called him James.
"Don't play dumb. You said you had a headache this morning. I told you it was because of the bottle of scotch you drank with Remy last night, who, by the way, you put out of commission today. I have to cover all of his training sessions because he's currently bent over a toilet, and no one has ever seen him this hung over." She told him.
"Eva, could you give us a minute? I'm sure Logan would be happy to help with Remy's classes today." The Professor told her. Eva. Even her name was beautiful.
"You better if you want to sleep in the same bed as me tonight." Eva warned him, narrowing her golden eyes at him before leaving the office.
"What the hell was that?" Logan demanded when Eva had closed the door.
"That, Logan, was your wife." The Professor smiled.
Logan stared at the Professor. He had to be joking. "I'm married." He said, more of a statement than a question.
"Yes, your wife. She came here fifteen years ago. The timeline also altered her fate. She was supposed to be killed by Magneto. Instead, now that she survived, she came here at my request. You were smitten from the moment you laid eyes on her, though you had to win her over at first. She heard a lot of stories from everyone, and not all of them good. Ten years ago, you were married. Your anniversary is in a week, just to remind you." Professor X told him.
"I don't even know that woman. How could I be married to her?"
"You do know her though. The you from this timeline remembers her. You two are very happy together. I know it's a shock because of Jean, but if you give it time, your memories from this history will come back to you. If not, I could help you."
"Should I go talk to her?" Logan asked.
The Professor nodded. Logan sighed and stood.
"Her name is Eva?"
"Yes."
"And what do I usually do when she's mad at me?"
The Professor laughed. "You usually ask for her forgiveness. And use your charm doing it."
"Charm. Got it." Logan said, walking out of the Professor's office. He walked down the hallway until he caught sight of the beautiful woman through one of the door windows. Eva. He stopped and looked at her, watching her closely as she taught her class. She moved gracefully, gliding around the front of the room as she taught. Her voice was like music to him. And he recognized a smell from the Professor's office when she had entered. It was minty, almost spicy in his nose, mixed with vanilla and some floral scent.
"Ogling your wife again, yeah?" A voice said, clapping him on the shoulder. Logan spun around, meeting Remy LeBeau's eyes.
"You're looking better. Or did you just come to find another toilet?" Logan quipped. Remy laughed, shaking his head. Logan turned back to the window and noticed all the students were turned towards the door, looking at Logan and Remy. Eva was giving them a look. She managed to get the students' attention again.
"She doesn't look happy with you. Oh, I'm feelin' queasy again. See you later." Remy said, heading back towards the staircase.
Logan leaned up against the wall, out of sight of the door. After a few minutes, the door softly opened and closed. Logan looked over and saw Eva staring at him. Damn, those eyes.
"Do you need something?" Eva asked. He sensed a clip in her tone. He didn't know what possessed him, but he pulled her to him and began to kiss her. At first she pushed at him, but Logan wouldn't let go. His possessed feeling left after two seconds, but he couldn't bring himself to stop kissing her. Her lips were like honey. He could feel something radiating from his chest. Something he felt for Jean. But this was stronger than that. He could sense the same feeling coming from Eva. For him. Even though he still thought of her as a stranger, he knew why him from this universe spent time trying to win this woman over. Only if it were just for this feeling. This feeling of having her in his arms. She fit perfectly.
After her futile attempts to free herself the first few seconds, he felt Eva give in to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and their lips began moving in sync. Logan broke off the kiss for air, drinking in her scent as he rested his forehead against hers.
"Damn you, James." She whispered breathlessly. He looked at her and saw she was smiling. "Why do you always do that? You know I can't stay mad when you do something like that."
"Because it works." He said automatically.
She laughed slightly and pulled away. "I have to get back in there. You know Tommy's probably already started a riot. You should get back to your classes too. Even though you only have one left now." The bell rang as she spoke. She pecked him on the cheek, reaching up on her toes to do so before going back into her classroom. He heard her voice over the clamor, telling her students what their homework was. Students flooded the hallways, some said hi to him, and some asked about homework for tonight. He didn't know what to say, so he just said there was none. One student high-fived another when he overheard Logan say no homework.
"Come, Logan." Professor X said, appearing out of nowhere and gliding easily through the students. Logan followed him all the way down the hallway to the last door on the left. "Your classroom. Goodbye, Logan." Professor X glided back down the hallway, making the students part like the Red Sea as he made his way back to his office. Logan stared after him until a student who was walking into his classroom asked "You okay, Mr. Logan?" Logan snapped out of his trance and nodded, ushering the kid into the room. He made his way over to his desk and sat down, looking at what was on his desk. A small zen garden sat near a stack of books near the corner of his desk. He smiled slightly. Some things were the same.
On the other side of his desk, a stack of papers sat in a plastic tray. Probably homework assignments or tests the students' turned in while he was in the Professor's office this morning. Students were still placing papers in the stack as they came into the room and took their seats. He wasn't looking forward to getting into those. He noticed two picture frames sitting near the tray. Taking a closer look, he realized one of them was him getting married. Eva and Logan stood on the steps of what looked like a church, smiling towards the camera. Logan was holding Eva in his arms, a bright smile on his face. An equally bright smile was on Eva's face. He looked to the other picture, another one of him and Eva. It looked like they took the picture themselves instead of someone getting them to do it for them. The Washington Monument and reflection pool sat in the background. Eva had both arms around Logan and he had one arm wrapped around her, pulling her close for the picture. Again, Logan had a wide smile, and Eva seemed to be laughing. They looked happy. Maybe Professor X was right. Logan only hoped whatever deep feeling he had for Eva would come back with time. He could feel something starting, but he wasn't sure if it was love or not. Feeling love now would be too fast. No one could feel something that fast.
The bell rang, and Logan looked at the papers in the center of his desk. An attendance list.
"Okay, quiet down." He called over the noisy class. He began calling out the last names on the list, marking if they were there or not.
"So where's Daniels and Rodriguez?" He asked, tossing the list and pencil back on his desk. He made a point of seeing who responded to the names he called out, trying to put names to faces.
"Ms. Vasquez held Tommy after class. When she was out of the room talking to you he went up to the front of the room and started drawing on the blackboard instead of doing his work." A girl called from the back. He looked at her. Scott. That was her last name. And Vasquez had to be Eva's.
"And Rodriguez?"
"Dr. McCoy's looking at him in the infirmary. He took a nasty hit in the Danger Room this morning during training. They think he broke a few ribs."
"He'll be fine. So do any of you know what the other classes did when I was gone?" Logan asked.
"I think they watched a movie." Another kid piped up. Logan looked at him. Harris.
"Well, that's what we're going to do then." Logan saw a DVD on his desk and took it, found a remote for the projector, turned it on, and popped the DVD in the player. He saw a retractable white screen and pulled that down too. The DVD started automatically, so he propped his feet up on his desk and grabbed the stack of papers from the plastic tray and a pen. Better start grading them now.
Later that night, Logan made his way back up to his bedroom, rubbing the back of his neck. He spent a few hours in his classroom after school was done for the day, getting all of his papers graded. He didn't want to go back to see them sitting there. He opened the door and was met with the sight of Eva standing in front of the dresser in her underwear. His eyes widened as he looked at her. She looked over when she heard the door open.
"Close the door before you start admiring the view." She told him, smiling slyly. Logan did as she said, closing the door behind him as he sat down on the bed, trying to avoid looking at her. He barely knew her. Well, he was supposed to be married to her for ten years. In reality he barely knew her. She pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, climbing up behind him on the bed and sitting behind him, wrapping her legs around his waist.
"You wouldn't believe what Tommy did today. I swear that child had no discipline before he came here. Now he doesn't know how to react to it." She told him, placing little kisses all over his back. They burned through his shirt, searing his skin. He clenched his jaw, trying to control himself. He didn't want to take advantage of her.
"So, why were you so late?" She asked, continuing her kisses, moving up to his neck. Her scent was intoxicating. Some of her hair spilled over his shoulder as she kissed his neck. He turned his head slightly to inhale her scent, relishing in bliss. She stopped her barrage and he growled slightly. Right. Her question.
"Grading papers." He told her.
"Bet you're regretting giving that pop quiz now, huh?" She chuckled. He nodded, turning his head to meet her eyes. They made him melt. That feeling in his chest came back again. That couldn't be a coincidence. She smiled at him and he cracked some more. What was this?
"Come on. We're on supervision duty with Storm and Hank tonight." She told him, unwrapping her legs from around him. He instinctively reached out and pulled her back on top of him when she got up. Why did he do that? She rolled her eyes, giving him a deep kiss before standing back up and pulling him with her.
"Why are we on supervision duty?" He asked her as they walked out of the room and down the hallway.
"Scott forgot he was on a mission tonight, and Kurt had to back out because the jet is having technical difficulties." She told him, reaching out for his hand and lacing her fingers through his absentmindedly.
"Bastard." Logan grumbled.
"I agree. How do you forget you're on a mission?" She frowned. "Anyway, he took our shifts for the next month."
"That's good." He nodded. Their conversation down to the cafeteria felt natural, none of it was forced. It was hard to hold the conversation on Logan's part. It was hard to keep focus when she was so beautiful. The same thing happened in the cafeteria. Beast tried to start a conversation about one of their students, but Logan kept staring at Eva as she spoke with Storm, making it hard for him hold the conversation once it had begun.
After dinner was done and they had gone back to their room, Eva went into the bathroom to shower, leaving the bathroom door open as Logan laid on the bed.
"What do you think we should do next week?" Eva called from the shower. Logan racked his brain. Next week. Anniversary. Right.
"Whatever you want." He told her.
"You always say that." She laughed. "What would you if I said we should just stay here?"
"I'll think of something. Let me plan it." Logan needed to talk to Professor X about their first date.
"That's a first. You really don't want to stay home?" She asked him.
"I'm sure. Let me sweep you off our feet." Logan smiled slightly, though she couldn't see it.
"Alright, Casanova. I'll leave it in your hands." She replied, coming out of the bathroom wrapped only in a towel, using another one to dry her hair as she stood in front of him. "I just remembered something. And I want you to promise me you won't get mad."
Logan looked at her questioningly, waiting for her to continue.
"Say it, James." She frowned.
"Fine. I promise I won't get mad." He told her.
"I have to go pick up another recruit with Scott and Storm next week on the same day of the concert." She told him, going back into the bathroom and emerging a few seconds later stark naked.
Logan swallowed hard, trying to concentrate as she walked around the room getting dressed.
"You seem to be taking this pretty well." She told him, pulling on her last article of clothing and sitting down next to him. "In my defense, the professor just sprung this on me today before you woke up." She began playing with a few tendrils of hair, tugging on them slightly as she brushed them behind his ear. Her other hand rested on his thigh.
"You shouldn't tell him no just because we had something planned. If he asked you, then it must be for a reason." He struggled out, almost losing his self-control.
"He said I would help persuade them to come. To calm them down enough to agree to at least visit." She sighed, running a hand through his hair. He finally turned to look at her and she smiled. "Maybe you could ask Hank to go with you." She smirked.
"Yeah, because he would want to go to a Metallica tribute concert." He said automatically. Where did that come from? Maybe it was what the Professor was talking about. Memories coming back from this life. He remembered now. He bought them tickets to the concert as a pre-anniversary present.
"Yeah, he is kind of a stiff." She laughed softly, shaking her head. "Maybe you could sell it."
"I wouldn't go without you." He told her.
"You shouldn't wait for me here, either. I don't know how long we'll be gone. All I know is that I'll be back before our anniversary." She responded, kissing him. "I need to sleep. I've got an early training session with some of the kids." She went to other side of the bed, getting under the covers and turning to face the wall.
Logan watched her for a minute then joined her after removing his shirt and jeans, leaving his boxers on. He debated pulling her to him and spooning. Was that a thing they did? Or did she like her space when they slept? He decided from when she was wrapped around him and kissing his neck that spooning was probably a safe bet as something to do. He pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her. She turned around to face him, snuggling into his chest. She was still awake. Logan kissed the top of her head, but continued down her hairline until he tilted her chin up to kiss her on the lips. She smiled under the kiss, opening her eyes to meet his.
"With you acting like this, I won't be able to sleep." She murmured to him. He answered with another kiss. It was as if something possessed him. This just felt right. Maybe it was more of his memories? Logan didn't want to fight it. He wanted to be as close to her as possible. If this is how he felt when he first met her, he could understand why he spent all that time trying to win her over just to marry her.
She moved quickly, turning Logan onto his back and climbing on top of him, straddling him as they began to kiss more intensely. Logan felt Eva tangle her fingers in his hair as his hands roamed up and down her body, trying to commit it to memory, or bring up memories. He willed his memories to reveal themselves, but nothing came up. His life in this universe was still mostly blank. He stilled his hands on her hips and sat up quickly, pulling her flush against him as he held the back of her head with his hand, tilting her head so he had full access to her neck. He kissed along her jaw and moved down her neck, finally kissing in a hollow space between her shoulder muscle and collarbone. She moaned slightly, grabbing the back of his head and crashing his lips to hers. They began to move in sync, kissing and grinding against each other until Eva's hands moved down to remove Logan's boxers. Logan finally snapped out of his trance and grabbed her hands. They were both breathing heavily as Eva looked at Logan with heavily-lidded eyes.
"What's wrong?" She asked breathlessly, kissing him again. Logan didn't remove his grip, moving her hands up to his bare chest to rest there. He kissed her softly, resting his forehead against hers, trying to calm himself down. His animalistic nature told him to keep going, but he fought it, a rare occurrence.
"Not tonight." He whispered to her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to him. "You need to get some rest for tomorrow." He laid back on the bed with Eva on top of him, keeping his arms around her. She sighed, kissing him once on the chest before closing her eyes and going to sleep. He stared up at the ceiling, fully awake and unable to go asleep. He only had Eva on his mind. It wasn't like him to stop himself from having his way with a woman, but he knew he would feel bad about it in the morning. He was her husband, but he barely knew her. Logan felt she deserved better than that. He needed to make sure what they had was love, and that he didn't feel the same way about Jean. That part was already beginning to make itself known. Everything he felt for Jean couldn't hold a match to what he already felt for Eva. He looked back down at his sleeping wife and planted a soft kiss on her head before falling asleep himself. Maybe tomorrow would be easier.