Part 1:
Logan was running. The forest was dark and humid, and he could feel the tree branches scratching his arms and face. He could barely see anything.
There was blood in his eyes. Every part of his body was burning from the inside out. He felt this deep ache, making so difficult for him to know where he was going or even what he was running from.
When he reached a glade in the middle of a circle of trees, he noticed he was feeling so cold because he was naked. He sat, leaning his back against a tree trunk, breathing heavily. Looking at his hands, he pulled his claws off, and felt an acute pain when the blood started to run from the back of his hands.
Then, he closed his eyes and remembered everything about the lab. The big water tank, the needles punching through his skin, making him unconscious for a while, the water filling his lungs when he tried to scream for them to stop…
He was screaming in the middle of the woods, his heart was racing like it was going to explode in his chest. He felt the saltiness of his tears in his mouth, and then realized he was crying. It was too much pain. He didn't think he could handle it. He wanted to die.
Marie was sleeping in her bedroom at Xavier's mansion, when she woke up in a jump. At first, she was confused, not knowing what made her wake up, but then she heard noises coming from the room next to hers. Logan's room.
Looking at the clock at the bed table, she saw it was 3 am. She was sure he must be sleeping by now. 4 hours earlier she gave him a good night hug when she left his room, where they were talking and drinking after coming back from a particularly difficult mission with the X-Men.
Sitting on the bed, she used what was left in her of Logan's accurate hearing to discover the noises source. Logan's bed was placed on the other side of the same wall that her own, and she could hear the sounds of him twisting and turning, his shallow breathing, and the noises of the wooden bed. Leaning against the wall, she also heard he was sobbing, whispering words she couldn't understand.
That was enough to worry her, so she decided to go check it out. It's been years since the last time he had nightmares this bad. The last time she went to check on him, she ended up with his claws buried in her chest. But she wasn't afraid of him, because she knew he didn't do that on purpose.
Trying to make as little noise as possible, she opened her door and went to Logan's, knowing his door was never locked. Suddenly, Marie became afraid she was being nosy, entering his room without being invited, in the middle of the night. The other time it gave them both enough problems. But she also knew how painful those nightmares were to him, bringing back memories he didn't want to have. So, she decided it was worthed checking him, even if it made him upset.
She entered the room and went straight to his bed. She could see he was covered in sweat and his face was stained by his tears. Marie felt her heart jump. She never knew that the nightmares made him cry. That must've been a particularly bad one.
"Logan?", she called as she approached the bed, her voice barely a whisper. "Sugar, you need to wake up", she asked, sitting on the edge of the bed, placing a hand on his naked shoulder.
She felt him tense under her touch, and moan something that sounded like the word "stop".
"Logan, please, you're having a nightmare, you need to wake up", she begged him, squeezing his shoulder a little more. She was scared. His heightened senses made impossible for him to stay asleep when someone was getting so close.
She realized his skin was cold, and, when she was about to leave the room to call someone, Logan slowly opened his eyes. He looked at her like didn't recognize her.
"Sugar, it's me. You were having a nightmare. Are you ok?", she asked, her heart heavy with concern.
"Marie", he answered, relief and pain flooding his eyes at the same time. Sitting on the bed, he pushed her in his direction, hugging her by the waist, snuggling his nose into her neck, breathing her soothing smell. "God, Marie, I was at that fucking lab again, but this time it was much worse", he said, his voice muffled and rough.
"It's okay, sugar, it was just a nightmare", she answered, hugging him back, her hands caressing his hair. She was happy he was ok, but she was also very surprised by the fact that he was letting her see him so vulnerable. "Do you wanna talk about it?", she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
"I don't, but I don't think I'm gonna be able to come back to sleep now, either", he answered, his strong hands around her waist, her heart beating against his chest. "Would you spend the night with me? Maybe with you here I won't have another one of those damn nightmares", he asked, placing one hand on her face, his thumb caressing her soft cheek.
He regretted the ask as soon as he made it. She was probably thinking he was going crazy. He was made clear that he didn't like to talk about his past. In fact, talking wasn't something he did much, specially about feelings. But with Marie it was different. She brought a peace to his mind that he would never be able to reach for himself. Everytime he got angry at something or someone, if he couldn't have her around, he would try to think of her, her pretty face, wide brown eyes and full rosy lips, and the way she blushed when something made her feel uncomfortable.
Marie didn't knew how to answer to his request. She loved to spend time with him. He was her best friend, the person she trusted the most in the entire world. But she wanted him to be more. She loved him since they've met. She tried to change that feeling by dating other boys, but se always ended up breaking up with them, because they weren't Logan. Marie sensed a difference in the way he was looking at her and touching her, and she was afraid that she might be confused by his signals. But he mattered too much to her. So she was going to leave her feelings buried and be there for him.
"Of course, sugar", she answered, with a faint smile, tilting her head so it would make more contact with his warm hand. "I'm always here for you".
"Thanks, kid", he said, placing a kiss into her forehead. He could see her smile turn into a frown when he purposely used the nickname he knew she hated. In fact, he did that to convince himself that she was still a kid, and not a beautiful woman who just agreed to spend the night in his room.
Making space for her to sit by his side on the bed, he turned the TV on, and chose an old western movie for them to watch. Rearranging the pillows so it would be comfortable, Marie lied on the bed, doing her best to hide the emotions that surfaced when he called her "kid". Apparently, even after all those years, he still saw her as a younger sister he needed to take care of. Marie decided that the best course of action was to try to make him talk about his dream, so the awkwardness of the moment would fade.
"I don't mind staying here with you in silence, but are you sure you don't wanna talk?", she asked, turning her face to look at him.
"Yeah, I'm sure. If ya wanna sleep, darlin', I don't mind", he stated, keeping his eyes fixed on the TV, avoiding looking at her and make his feelings surface again. It was wrong to ask more of her. He promised to take care of her, not hurt her feelings or damage her with his fucked up life.
Trying not to feel sad, Marie tried to pay attention to the movie, but her mind kept going back to the moments they spent together, trying to catch any sign that he wanted something different from her, something more than friendship.
When Rogue learned to control her mutation, it was only because she had Logan as her guinea pig. Since he could heal faster than anyone, he wouldn't stay hurt for long, and he ended up creating some kind of resistance to her mutation. This brought them closer to each other, and, after that, Marie was proud to notice she was the only one he touched frequently.
Lost in her thoughts, and being so used to Logan's presence, Marie fell asleep not long before.
After a while, about halfway through the movie, she moved in her sleep, placing her head in his chest, one hand resting on his abdomen. Frozen by the sudden contact, Logan tried not to move, which proved to be very difficult after she rested one leg above his own, her knee between his slightly spread legs.
He was so affected by the nightmare that he didn't really pay attention to her before. Now, with her so close to him, he started observing the way she slept, how her her long dark hair fell into the sheets, and how her lower back and her butt were in evidence in this position. He felt a dangerous heat spreading through his body, caused by the sexiness she was exhaling, even without meaning to. She was wearing a simple white nightgown, made of a soft fabric with thin straps, one of them slipping from her shoulder. He could tell she wasn't wearing a bra. Her soft milky skin was almost glowing with the weak lights in the room. Damn, she was giving him a hard time.
Logan would always feel guilty when he thought about Marie in a sexual way. He knew she was a grown woman that could make her own choices and everything, but for him it felt like yesterday that he found her on the road, her innocence and sincerity making him want to protect her forever.
Well, now, she was the one protecting him. He felt so at peace with her by his side that he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep after that awful nightmare if she wasn't there with him, with her kind touches, her calm voice, and her soothing smell.
Sighing deeply with that thought, he placed his arm above her head, his hand moving up and down her arm, his fingers tracing light circles in her skin. He placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head, breathing the smell of her hair. He fell asleep without noticing.