" Is for characters talking, and * is for characters thoughts. *** are page breaks/scene changes
So, on with the story :)
Chapter 2: How to tame a Wolverine
Logan was in shock. His three year old daughter, light of his life, had just asked the question he had been dreading. Granted, he had hoped it would be, well, NEVER, that she asked. His mouth opened and closed several times over an almost excruciating fifteen seconds of silence, before clearing his throat and crouching down so he was eye level with Rogue.
"Well, uh, you see..." he started, while Rogue was looking at him, very intently. *I would rather be shot a million times with adamantium rounds than be answering this* he thought. Another fifteen seconds of silence went by, as with a sigh, the mighty Wolverine decided to give his daughter part of an answer to this rather difficult question.
"Babies are made when two people like your mother and I, love each other very much. You will have to wait until you're older for the rest of the answer to that question, alright?" he finished telling his daughter, rather hurriedly. Rogue just continued to stare at him.
A minute later...
"Okay, Daddy. I'm going to go play with my friends now" she said, before walking over and kissing his cheek. Than she smiled at him. "Come and play with us, please?" she asked. Sighing, Logan nodded, and taking his daughters hand went off in search of her friends.
Logan was lying on the lawn directly out the front of the Mansion, with four bodies piled haphazardly on him. Rogue was lying flat across his chest, with Jubilation Lee half on top of her. Bobby was using Logan's left arm as a pillow, and a six year old Remy LeBeau was sprawled across his stomach. All four children were asleep after spending the day running around the school, shooting each other with Nerf guns, playing tag, hide & seek and going for a swim in the outdoor pool. He was about to fall asleep himself, when a soft chuckle got his attention. Glancing to his right, he saw Charles Xavier rolling over the lawn towards him.
"Hello, Logan. A long day, I presume"? the Professor asked, with a faint smile. Logan just stared at him for a moment before sighing.
"Something like that, Chuck" he replied quietly so as not to wake the children. Charles shifted in his wheelchair slightly, before looking at Logan seriously.
"Logan, I wanted to wait until Yuriko was back before I said anything. Ororo, Hank and Jean have given their approval. Only Scott was against your proposal. But I convinced him, that all things considered..." Charles broke off as he saw a single tear form on his face.
"Chuck, you don't know how happy this will make Rogue" Logan whispered, while gently shaking Rogue awake. Rogue gave a small grunt and stretched, while Jubilee merely clambered further on top of Rogue.
"Jubes, wake up...and get off me" Rogue muttered. Jubille's answer to this was to roll off Rogue and land on Remy, who woke with a start.
"WHA' DO YA THINK YA DOING"? Remy yelled as Jubilee landed heavily on him. This finally had the result of waking her, but unfortunately it also woke Robert as well. Charles laughed. All four children took notice of his presence, and greeted him.
"Daddy, why did you wake me up"? Rogue asked sulkily. Jubilee added her two cents worth as well.
"Yeah, why did you do that Mr. Wolvie?" she asked, pouting. Logan sighed, and held back an annoyed growl at being called Wolvie.
"Because Rogue, you will be able to spend more time with your Mother. She will be home for the next six months, while I start teaching extra classes" Logan replied, with a note of happiness, and if she had been old enough to notice, lust. Rogue's eyes lit up with pure excitement, before squealing. Very loudly. Again. She then ran over to Charles, and climbed on to his lap, hugging him.
"Thank you Uncle Chuck!" the little girl shrieked all but directly in to his ear. Charles gave the little girl a tight hug, while shooting Logan a disapproving stare.
"That's quite alright, Marie" Charles replied. Rogue jumped off Charles' lap, and started pulling on Jubilee's arm.
"COME ON! LET'S GO COOK PANCAKES" Rogue demanded, all the while trying to drag poor Jubilee along. Logan looked at Charles and sighed, than pushed Remy off him, rolled Robert aside to free his arm and stood up. By this time, Rogue had somehow miraculously dragged Jubilee halfway up the stairs to the front door.
"C'mon boys, we better go stop those girls from trying to 'cook' otherwise there won't be a school left" Logan said tiredly. The boys groaned, while Chalres laughed again and watched the trio trudge back in to the school.
Two hours, and four litres of pancake mix later, Yuriko walked in to the mansion's kitchen to find...she had to do a double take to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. The room was covered in uncooked, partially cooked and burnt pancake mix. Upon further examination, the culprits soon became apparent. Logan had Marie in a loose headlock, and was smooshing pancake batter in to her hair.
"NOOO! DADDY! MY HAIR! MY HAIR!" Marie was screaming in anger, but unfortunately the sudden outburst of giggles destroyed any semblance of authenticity. She managed to wriggle free just as Logan grabbed another handful of mixture.
"MWAHAHAHA! You can run, Rogue, but you can't hide" he called out to her retreating form, as said girl went sprinting from the kitchen, with her father in pursuit.
Yuriko blinked again. And finally blinked one last time. *What...the hell...was that?* was all she could muster the energy to think coherently. She sighed, and started cleaning the kitchen, unable to even think of a punishment for either of them.
"For being the hardest, no non-sense, front line soldier and warrior of our group, that husband of mine can be suprisingly childish at times" Yuriko said out loud to no one in particular. She wasn't expecting an answer or comment after all.
"Ah but Yuriko, that's only half the reason as to why the children not only adore him, but have complete and utter trust in him" came the accented, and highly amused voice of Ororo Monroe. Yuriko turned to see her long time gal pal in the kitchen doorway.
"Hey, Storm. Nice to see you, it's been a while" Yuriko said, smiling tiredly all the while moving forward to hug the former African goddess. "By the way, what's the other half of the reason why the kids adore my husband?" she asked, purely out of curiosity. Storm gave a low chuckle, and hugged Yuriko back.
"I thought that was obvious. It's that sheer, overwhelming animalistic ferocity of his, and the knowledge that he will stop at nothing, and allow nothing to stand in his way, to protect them" Storm remarked, failing to completely stop the catch in her voice as she admitted what was a seemingly an obvious truth. Yuriko smiled knowingly at the other woman.
"It's ok, Ororo. I of all people can't hold it against you. After all, he is your...OUR adopted sister. That time in Africa, when Logan first met you when he was only 8 years old..." Yuriko trailed off, as her thoughts took her back to twenty years ago...
***
TWENTY YEARS AGO Eight year old Yuriko waited at the front door, tapping her foot impatiently. *Logan SHOULD have been home four hours ago. I want to play with him* was her irritated thought. She was bored, and had been for more than a week, since Logan had left with the Professor to get some 'wordly experience'. She continued to tap her foot impatiently for another five minutes, when all of a sudden, she heard the whir of the X-Jet returning. The irritated girl suddenly smiled. *FINALLY!* she thought. A few minutes later, the front door was blasted open so violently it came off it's hinges and travelled twenty metres down the hallway, and the Professor in his wheelchair came inside with a bloody and torn apart Logan in his lap. Or what pieces of him remained. Yuriko shrieked at seeing her even then beloved Logan, HER Wolverine in such a state.
"HANK! JEAN! PREP THE SURGERY ROOM! AND I MEAN AS OF A DAY AGO!" the Professor physically roared. HE. WAS. FURIOUS. Yuriko had never seen the Professor like this. But more than furious, at least to Yuriko, he looked afraid. Upset. Defeated.
Yuriko ran to the small first aid office connected to the front administration room, opened the closet containing emergency equipment, and angrily removed the portable stretcher and ran back to the Professor.
"Here Professor! I will take him down there" Yuriko had to force herself to breath, and make herself be understood. The Professor looked up, and gave her a very small, but gentle smile.
"Ah, Yuriko. With you looking after young Logan, I'm sure he will be fine" Charles said softly, honestly believing it himself. Yuriko considerably brightened after hearing that. She pushed the stretcher down the hallway to an elevator, but couldn't quite reach the button to call the elevator. A large, blue furred hand reached out and pressed the button.
"I will take him from here, Yuriko" a voice, affected by a faint growl, informed her. Yuriko turned around and saw Doctor Hank McCoy, who Logan affectionately nicknamed Beast. His blue fur, which covered his entire body, was sticking every which way, his lab coat wrinkled and covered in coffee stains. He looked older than usual, and for the first time, his face held a grim expression. His eyes, so kind, gentle, and quick to light up with some inner idea, or a joke that he had shared, now seemed to barely restrain the same anger the Proffesor had shown. Yuriko gave a small nod, handed the stretcher over and got in the elevator anyway. Hank gave her an approving look before pushing the button to take them down to the Infirmary.
Upon entering the Infirmary, the first thing Yuriko noticed was the tall long red haired woman. Her eyes were bright, not a hair out of place, her brown eyes gave away no emotion. Doctor Jean Gray was a telepath and telekinetic based Mutant, whose power was said to be greater than that of the Professor, but still had to master her abilities. Hank pushed the stretcher over to the nearest operating table, and gently, almost reverently, placed Logan on it. A few moments later Charles entered.
"There is only one way to ensure this kind of pain and damage never befalls Logan again" his voice, normally light and optimistic, carried an edge of anger. "I will stabilise his mind. Jean you ensure when he regenerates, everything is in its rightful place. Hank, prepare the Adamantium for human skeletal bonding" Charles' voice carried with it a sense of pain, as he made the final instruction. Jean began attaching vitals monitoring equipment to what was left of Logan, while Hank disappeared to another part of the Infirmary.
It was then Yuriko noticed a young girl, no more than a year younger than herself who was dark of skin, with prematurely white hair that flowed all the way to her waist. Her dark eyes silently shed tears as she stared at Logan, but upon realising she was being watched angrily wiped them away and turned to face Yuriko with a fierce look on her face.
"That boy...no, that young man...is a warrior. He saved me" her voice was strongly accented, but her english was perfect. Her expression softened. "You are Yuriko, correct? Before he fell unconcious, he kept saying your name" she stated simply, bowing her head respectfully. Just than, Hank came back with a strange contraption with tubes connected to a container of liquid that was boiling.
*No, not boiling. Melting* Yuriko wondered in amazement. It looked like no liquid she had ever seen. For some reason just by looking at it, she felt as if she were seeing the essence of her beloved Logan. Shiny, unmarred, flawless, but underneath that, a hidden strength. An indestructibility. Little Yuriko shivered.
"I will now do my best to stop him going in to shock. And from waking up" Charles announced to the two Doctors. Both nodded. Yuriko turned back just in time to see Logan's body fully intact. Her jaw dropped in shock. Jean hummed happily upon seeing this.
"Professor, everything is intact. And perfectly functional. Such regenerative power...I never would of guessed!" she said excitedly. Hank just grunted, and begun unwinding a multitude of tubes, and attaching needles to the ends. He then deftly, but by no means gently, buried these into Logan's body. A screen behind him flashed to life, an x-ray of Logan. The needles were located at key points throughout his skeleton.
"Professor! What are you going to do to him!?" Yuriko demanded, having decided that this was the perfect time to throw a tantrum. Charles looked at her with a haunted look.
"I am going to hurt Logan more than he will ever experience, so he never has to hurt again" he said, suddenly very cold and blunt. Yuriko frowned, than did something no one expected. No one that is, save for the other young girl in the room. Yuriko removed her clothes, and struggled to climb on to the bed next to Logan's.
"Than you will have to hurt me as well, Professor. We promised each other, we go through everything together" the little girl was resolute. Her voice carried an authority, an undeniable force of fact that Charles was taken aback. For all of a second. Than he grunted.
"Hank, attach the needles to her as well. I just read her mind. It hurt me to see just how much she cares for Logan" the Professor's voice, where it had been cold before, was now tinged with awe. Hank nodded, than walked over to Yuriko and gave her a hug. Suddenly a voice was in her head telling her to sleep. The little girls world went dark, as she fell asleep.
***
PRESENT
Storm let out a sigh, before gently pushing Yuriko back, breaking the embrace and began helping clean up.
"So, I guess you're on holidays for the next six months?" Storm asked her friend. Yuriko merely gave a pleased hum in answer, as she went about cleaning the mess her husband and daughter had made.
"You know, I haven't been around often enough. Is Logan always like that with Marie?" Yuriko asked, genuinely curious. Storm laughed.
"Yep, pretty much. Personally I think he dotes on his little girl a bit too much, lets her watch t.v, often forgets about marking the kids performance in the Danger Room..." Storm broke off and facepalmed herself for letting the one person in the world who hated laxity know about her husbands parenting skills...and how he was with work.
"Hmm. It's probably for the best. Not the forgetting he is a teacher part. But the fact he has such a strong bond with Marie" Yuriko spouted, quite cheerfully. Storm merely raised an eyebrow in mild suprise. The sound of a voice being cleared suddenly interrupted the two women. Both turned to the kitchen dooorway to see Scott Summers, a.k.a Cyclops, standing there.
"Sorry to interrupt you ladies, but I figured it would be best to break the news to you. We are having a rather important guest over for dinner, at the behest of the Government. I'll finish cleaning up here. Would the two of you mind rounding up the younger children?" he spoke with his usual soft, yet somehow authoritive voice. Storm rolled her eyes.
"Aye aye, fearless Leader" Yuriko quipped, before grabbing Storm by the arm and quickly dragging her down the hallway. The women looked at each other, both having a feeling tonight could go badly.
End of Chapter 2.