Peacock: This is a repost of an X-Men fanfic I took from my old fanfiction account. And yeah, I know I should stay with that account but honestly, that old account is tied to a lot of stuff that I want to cut my ties with (though all of my other stories that I can't bring myself to delete will still be there). With that said, I don't own Wolverine or the X-Men. All characters related to the X-Men belong to Marvel. All I own are any OCs that didn't exist in the X-Men cartoon, to begin with. This might have a few cliche moments and story elements but this is... well this is like an ode to my childhood of watching the 90s X-Men. The only comic related stuff I'm bringing in (besides maybe a few storylines that didn't exist in the cartoon) is the stuff related to Daken, Logan's son (though all the Daken stuff will be a bit toned down given the nature of the 90s X-Men series). And if Daken appears way out of character, it's because it's my own spin on him but he still belongs to Marvel. I wrote this story with a lot of encouragement from a handful of my online friends who also love X-Men so here it goes.
o1.
The snow finally started melting even though it was still a bit nippy outside, especially at night. Light trailed from a log cabin, with remnants of winter melting away from the roof. It was always cold in Alaska save for the Summer Months, but it was only March and things were starting to warm up. Through a window, the figure saw him sitting in what looked like a small loveseat with a woman curled into his side.
Her head was on his shoulder, her arms were around his waist as he held a book in his hands. An eyebrow raised and a gruff voice left the man's lips.
"You want me to read you this book of fairy tales?" Confusion underlined with amusement could be heard, but he was more confused than anything else. The woman giggled beside him and nodded.
"Of course, my daddy used to read to me when I was a little girl so I thought it'd be good practice for you." She said softly. She didn't bother looking at him. From what the figure could tell, the woman was blind. That much it knew.
The Runt just wrinkled his nose in derision.
"I don't know if reading a fairy tale to your stomach will work. Can the baby even hear at this stage?" He questioned.
A smirk formed on the figure's lips as he gave a very soft growl-like chuckle. It wasn't a friendly chuckle either. It was one of contempt and amusement. To see his longtime enemy reduced to reading children's stories to a blind mouse. How the mighty have fallen.
The mouse just giggled and shook her head. "No, not completely. It might help it recognize your voice while it's inside me." She nuzzled the Runt's shoulder, that action obviously breaking the man's resolve.
"You win, Snowflake, you and the little one." The Runt mumbled, but despite the seemingly annoyed look on his face, he was clearly happy to be doing something for the Mouse. As soon as he opened the book, the mouse kissed the runt's cheek and curled into his side once more. He then started reading the first fairy tale. "Once upon a time there was a rich merchant, who had three daughters. They lived in a very fine house in a beautiful city and had many servants in grand liveries to wait upon them."
Having seen enough, the tall blonde bestial man bared his teeth out of boredom and walked off, disappearing into the darkness of the woods. He'll have to find the opportune moment to strike. He'll let the Runt have this moment with the Mouse. It is or rather will be his last night on Earth after all.
-
Everything was quiet and still, it was unsettling, to be honest. It was the unnerving silence that woke her. Zofia opened her eyes and laid there on her side, curled into Logan's body with her head on his chest. Besides the steady beating of his heart and the breaths he takes in while sleeping, all was quiet, but Zofia felt a bit uneasy as she laid here in the darkness. She felt an icy cold feeling in the bit of her stomach as she sat up.
The world around her seemed darker and a bit fuzzier according to her sixth sense. She knew the layout of her log cabin well enough to find her way around as she rose out of the bed without disturbing Logan. That man could sleep through a hurricane and he wouldn't know it (okay with his cautious nature, a hurricane might wake him but it was hard for Zofia to intentionally wake him up).
She carefully navigated her way to the bathroom, the nauseous feeling in her stomach getting steadily worse.
It wasn't until she reached the bathroom that Zofia felt the need to toss up the contents of her stomach. She found herself holding onto the edge of the bathroom sink, trying to keep herself from vomiting. But when you gotta go, you gotta go. The pressure was too strong and the woman couldn't help coughing and retching, leaning over the sink, her hands gripping the edge tightly. It felt like forever and her head was starting to throb as she was able to regain control.
Zofia shivered at chilliness of the bathroom. When she stopped, Zofia felt a breeze blowing in from the open window of the bathroom. Usually, the windows would be closed especially at night. She didn't think anything of it at first. That is until she reached for the latch to close the window. The feeling of being watched made her stop, and without realizing it, she sensed an unfamiliar presence. And for once, she felt a bit afraid. In her mind, she saw just outside the cabin, as far as the tree where Logan would chop up firewood and beneath the redwood tree was…
Despite the darkness outside, she saw something large and black by the tree (well it appears black in her mind's eye). The black mass grinned, baring its fangs at her. The sight of it made her jump back in surprise.
A scream startled Wolverine, waking him up from his slumber. With the shockwave of fear and worry coursing through him, Logan quickly leaped out of bed, his metal claws coming out upon instinct.
"Zofia?" Logan called out upon not seeing Zofia in the bed. He smelled her fear and…
Blood?
His heart jumped hard in his chest and fear entered his heart as he called out for Zofia once more.
"Zofia?" Logan quickly ran to the bathroom, flipping the lights on in the process. Once inside the bathroom, he saw Zofia sitting on the ground, her back against the wall. There was a terrified look on her face; she looked pale like she had just seen a ghost. Her legs were drawn up to her chest and her hands were holding the sides of her face. It was like she was trying to drown something out.
Logan gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to let his temper get the best of him. If there was something around, scaring the pants off of his Snowflake, they'd have him to answer to. He felt his claws ready to pop out, but Logan mentally counted back from ten before finding himself calm. He finally focused his attention back to Zofia. She needed him first, ass-kicking could wait till later.
"Zofia, are you ok?" he asked kneeling down in front of her.
Hearing the Canadian's gruff voice, and feeling his large hands gently grabbing her wrists, Zofia finally opened her eyes and looked in the direction she could sense the voice came from.
"L-Logan?" her voice came out as a soft squeak, which only happens when she's under extreme duress. It was rare for her to be this scared. There's never been anything in these mountains that could scare her. Not wolves, or mountain lions. Not even the occasional moose or elk that passes by. One would say she was one with nature. She definitely wasn't aggressive or intimidating.
"Yeah, it's me, Snowflake," Logan said softly, allowing her fingers to lace through his own.
As Logan's presence registered into her mind, a sense of tranquility flooded her heart and Zofia found herself throwing her arms around his neck, burying her face into his bare chest. She didn't care that she was only in her panties or that the red flannel shirt she had stolen from Logan was hanging open and unbuttoned. And Logan didn't seem to care that he was only in a pair of gray sweatpants. Zofia just hugged him, feeling relieved and besides, it was just Wolverine who would see her half-dressed like this.
His arms snaked around her waist, pulling her close as he kissed the top of her head and stroked her back gently. As he did so, Logan glanced her over, checking for any signs of blood. He didn't know why he smelled blood. Zofia wasn't bleeding and, thankfully, nothing happened to the life growing inside her.
He smirked to himself at the thought of him suddenly feeling worried about a child, his child… no, it was their child. His and Zofia's. Three years go if anyone told Logan he was gonna be settling down with a woman and starting a family, he would've told that person to go fuck themselves. Three years…
Has it been that long already? That was the last time he's seen hide nor hair of Sabertooth, and it was the last time he saw the X-Men. Everyone had been gathered for the Professor's goodbye before he left with the alien empress, Lilandra. It was hard staying there at the Institute without the glue that held the X-Men together.
All of the uncomfortable feelings of being sad and angry started to return. Sensing the sudden shift in her lover's mood, Zofia looked up at him.
"Logan?" She started.
Logan just grunted in response, giving her a kiss on her forehead and embracing her again.
"I'm fine, Zofia." He murmured. Logan glanced at the open window, noticing it was open. "Did you open this window?"
Zofia shook her head as he released her and walked to close the window.
"No, it was open when I came in."
His eyes narrowed at her words. Zofia was never one to lie because both of them had a habit of keeping the windows closed around this time of year, especially so now that they were expecting. As Logan approached the window, he looked out of it, peering into the darkness outside.
"Did you see anything?" Logan asked. He heard the brunette breathing in deeply, her breath a bit shaky. "Zo?" he started.
Zofia hugged herself, shivering a bit not at the cold, but at the memory of what just happened.
Logan looked over his shoulder.
"You saw somethin', didn't you, Darlin'?" Logan finally turned back around sensing her reluctance. He knelt down in front of her again, this time, giving her shoulders a gentle squeeze. He knew Zofia was trying to not worry him. After all, he has been fussing over her and the pregnancy night and day since they learned about her expecting.
Zofia trembled again. If that thing she saw was real then it could be trouble and someone could get hurt. She nodded, allowing herself to relax a little.
"It was some sort beast, or at least I thought it was a beast. It kinda grinned at me." She answered, "it came from the direction of the firewood pile."
"Beneath the Redwood?"
Another nod.
Logan gave a quiet sniff, his senses on alert. He felt a small sliver of the old paranoia coming back, but he ignored it as he stood up and walked back to the window. The usual smells of the forest and mountain greeted him, as well as where Max had marked the territory and buried a few bones, but nothing out of the ordinary. Except…
Logan gave another sniff and for a second he smelled the sweet scent of iron, of blood. The smell of blood wasn't coming from outside. It was coming from…
He followed the scent back to her, still sitting on the floor. Zofia looked confused as she heard Logan walking to her for the third time.
"Logan?"
"Are you bleeding?" Logan's sharp tone ran through her, but a shake of her head dispelled his worries, well sort of. Another sniff. She knew he had a good sense of smell (it was part of his Mutant powers after all), but whenever he smelled blood, Logan would become a bit irritated, worried, and immediately start seeking out the source (Providing he wasn't smelling an animal he had cleaned up for them to eat of course).
Logan gently grabbed her hand and sniffed it, before moving onto her neck. He smelled her familiar sweet cologne (or what remained of it) but no blood here either. But then where was the blood coming from?
Zofia's heart beat fast, as Logan continued sniffing the air around her, seeking out where the blood was coming from. Instead of it being alluring or enticing, it was uncomfortable and tense. As his breath touched her skin with every sniff, Zofia found herself wanting to push him away. She had to fight the urge to do so.
"Logan, please, you're scaring me," Zofia mumbled, but he didn't seem to hear her.
There was apparently no visible sign of blood anywhere on her or near her, but something was setting him off. But she didn't know what.
His hands gently ran down her back. The touch sent a chill up her spine, but it wasn't one of his sensual touches.
Logan seemed to tower over her in her Mind's Eye, but like the world outside their cabin, the image of her lover was dark and grainy like trying to see an old time black and white film that someone had tried to restore after it was close to being destroyed.
Her heart beat fast in her chest, almost painfully so, fear gripping at some part of her soul.
"L-Logan," as his hands traveled further down, Logan leaned closer to her, his breathing calm, but more bestial. Zofia was paralyzed with fear and yet some part of her was intrigued by this side of Logan. Their noses barely touched as he leaned in even closer. Zofia was almost ready to accept whatever kiss he would lay upon her lips when she heard the noise of his metal claws coming out.
"Logan?" her voice squeaked with fear now as she felt the cool metal of the three blades pressing lightly against the skin on her side.
The metal claws ghosted downwards as their lips met. It was a soft kiss at first, a ghost of a kiss really but the claws stopped. They lingered there on her hips as Logan nipped and bit softly at her lips, enticing Zofia to respond. Her lips parted, allowing him access to the inside. They've had kisses like this before but usually, Logan was more gentle, tender, not so…
Intense. That was the word.
Every kiss was making him lose his mind, making him give in to this urge, whatever this urge was. He always knew there was something dark inside of him, a beast, but could he control it or was it controlling him? With every kiss, his mind became blank and the urge took over, making him crave more than just stolen kisses. One hand slipped down her other side, resting there as the kisses became even more passionate. When he pulled away from the kiss, staring into her eyes, he smelled something wet and salty on her cheeks.
Tears?
She drew in shaky breaths, a sickening feeling creeping up on her again. She didn't like how Logan was acting. But how could she snap him out of this without provoking this bestial side that had overtaken him?