For the next week Spencer spoke not a word. He knew he was worrying Logan with his silence. He just couldn't seem to bring himself to care. He couldn't bring himself to care about anything beyond the well of grief that was inside of him. Nothing had ever hurt so much as the loss of his mother did. It gutted him and left him empty of anything except the pain and the grief. Nothing Logan did was really pulling him out of it. The man vanished at one point and brought back a duffle bag and a messenger bag that were Spencer's, filled with clothes from his house and, deep down inside, a picture from the mantle of him and his mother. Spencer slept curled around it that night.

He didn't speak when Logan told him that they needed to move on; he didn't even try and ask where they were going. Did it really matter? It wasn't here. It wasn't home. His Mom wouldn't be there waiting for him. Except for this random kind stranger, Spencer was alone. Completely and utterly alone.

Trusting himself over to Logan was easy. His mother had trusted the man, and the empathy she'd possessed had made her a fine judge of character. Spencer's abilities as a dragon usually let him judge someone pretty well, too. At least when he was in dragon form. Everything was a bit stronger that way. The impression he'd picked up from Logan's mind had been dangerous, yes, and deadly if need be, with all these places in there that were so mixed up and some even blocked, and yet over it all had been an overwhelming sense of kindness as he'd looked at Diana, and later on as he'd helped care for Spencer. The man was dangerous, but he was also good.

Going silent had been a sort of defense mechanism for Spencer most of his life. When emotions got too strong, or things around him became too much, he lost the desire to speak. It was a stark contrast to the usually chatty kid he could be.

But there was only so long he could wallow. So long that the dragon part of himself was willing to be pushed down and ignored. Since that night, Spencer hadn't shifted his form. Why would he? It was the use of that form that had started this whole mess. It was the whole reason his mother was… was gone. He didn't want to be the dragon anymore! However, he was quickly learning that the dragon didn't like being denied.

For the first time since his mother's death, he dreamed of something aside from blood, something aside from her pale face as he'd curled into her one last time. Those nightmares had been haunting him each and every night this past week. But this time, when he shot up in bed it was with the memory of wind under his wings, the ground a distant thing below him and the sky open and free all around him. It was with the taste of fresh air on his tongue and the promise of a hunt in his future. It was also with the salt of tears still flowing down his cheeks.

Spencer drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs as he buried his face against his knees. The dragon in him was begging to be free and it was the last thing he wanted. He didn't want to let it free. That part of him was the reason his mother was gone. He wanted it to go away. He'd never wanted to be a mutant anyways! Wasn't he already enough of a freak with his strange eyes? Or with his sharp mind? Why did he have to have this too?

From nearby came the soft sound of the other motel bed shifting. Spencer didn't really have much memory of where they were; this room looked the same as any they'd been in this past week. But he knew that it was Logan over there. Just as he could tell that Logan was coming closer to him.

He was surprised when the man didn't stay on his bed. He got up and came over, ignoring the way that Spencer tightened in on himself, and simply sat down on the bed and reached out for Spencer. "C'mere, pup." The man's voice was low and gruff, yet oddly suited to their dark motel room. He was almost radiating that kindness that Spencer had noticed on him before and it was just, it was too much. The preteen didn't have any hope of holding out against it. Without even thinking about it he twisted himself and almost threw his slender body straight into Logan's arms.

The feral didn't even hesitate to pull Spencer right up into his lap and cradle him. Though Logan was short for an adult, he felt huge to Spencer right then. There was so much strength in Logan's arms. Spencer curled himself in against the man even tighter. Though he knew it was a child's belief, one he was smarter than to fall for, in that moment it felt like nothing would be able to hurt him here. Logan was big enough and strong enough to keep him safe. Here, wrapped up in muscled arms that Spencer had no doubt could turn deadly, he was safe to let go.

The tears came faster and faster. Spencer gripped tight to Logan's shirt and buried his face in against him. Never once did Logan let go. Not even when the first sob broke free. He just held Spencer tight and rubbed one of those big hands over the boy's back. "That's it, pup. Let it all out. You been holding it in all week; just let it out. I got you."

Let it out he did. The tears that Spencer had been holding in all week came pouring from him with a force that shook his slender young body. Spencer sobbed for what had happened, for the mother he'd lost, and for the guilt he couldn't let go of. "I'm s-s-sorry!" He pressed his face in against the wet material of Logan's shirt and clenched his small fists even tighter. "I didn't… I didn't mean to!"

"Shh, shh." Logan smoothed a hand over Spencer's curls and somehow, impossibly, tucked him in even closer. "It wasn't your fault, Spencer. It wasn't. It was those crazy bastards, not you."

"She was pr-protecting me!"

"That's what Moms do. They protect their pups. She would've taken it a thousand times over to make sure you didn't get hurt. She loved you."

The tears came even faster and Spencer gave up trying to talk. He just held on to Logan and sobbed and sobbed until there was nothing left in him to give. Until he was reduced to the soft little hiccups and shudders a body gives when there are no more tears to cry, yet the grief is still there. Even then, Logan didn't let go of him. He kept holding Spencer and stroking soothingly over his back. They sat there for who knew how long. Spencer didn't really care. The kid who was usually so adverse to touch and loathe to show weakness just didn't have it in him to be strong right then.

It was Logan who eventually broke the silence that had fallen over their mostly dark room. He never stopped his gentle petting—and it was very much petting now, over Spencer's hair and his back in soothing strokes—but his voice came low and just a bit rumbly. "You know, my name's Logan, but the other name I go by, it's Wolverine. An it's not just a codename for me. It's a part of me, kind of like the dragon is a part of you. A feral part of me I gotta work hard to keep locked away inside. Cause if I let him out, there aint no telling what he'll do. He lives off of instincts. If he's hungry, he hunts. If he's threatened, he'll fight back an he'll even kill."

Spencer had realized that Logan was a feral pretty quickly. He knew the man had his claws; Logan had showed those to him early on. But he hadn't realized that the feral part of him was a whole other part, almost separate from the man himself.

"I've done things when I've been Wolverine, things I aint proud of. I've hurt people. Killed people. Sometimes… sometimes I'd like nothing better than to lock that part away and never let it out again."

"So what do you do?" Spencer asked quietly.

He felt the rumble of Logan's sigh vibrate the man's chest. There was a hint of the animal to that sound, a hint of a growl. It didn't scare Spencer, though. It made him feel strangely safer. "I had to learn that the beast aint in control of me—I'm in control of the beast. Pretending he aint there doesn't do me any good, or anyone else. Eventually he's gonna want out. So I had to learn a balance between those two parts of myself. A way to be me while still being a bit of him, too." The hand on Spencer's hair stopped stroking for a moment to cup the back of his head. "I know you been denying that other part of yourself. You feel guilty that he's the part that got their attention an that it ended up with your Mom dying. But, Spencer, you're gonna learn you can't deny that part. It won't work. It's a part of who you are. Wishing it away won't make it disappear. Might as well try and wish away your hands."

Sniffling, Spencer rubbed the tip of his nose against Logan's shirt, enjoying the texture of the material and the heat the man put off. It was part of the dragon in him that needed warmer temperatures. He didn't do well in cold. "People… people see that and they, they freak out. Those guys wanted to take me and sell me off like some fancy pet."

The hand holding his head gave a little tug until Spencer had to tip back. He was met with bright blue eyes that seemed to shine a bit from the street light shining in through the window. "You think I'm gonna let that happen?"

There was such firm certainty in those words. Like it was a foregone conclusion that Logan would protect him. It warmed Spencer even as it worried him. "I don't want anyone else hurt for me, Logan."

To his surprise, the feral smiled. "I told you, I aint easy to kill. Trust me, plenty of people have tried. I've got a strong enough healing factor I aint found anything yet that can keep me down."

This time Spencer heard those words and understood them far more than he had the last time. The idea of what Logan was implying had him perking up a little. New knowledge always intrigued him. "You mean you can't die?"

"If I can, no one's figured out how yet. An trust me," That grin sharpened, that hint of fang showing again. "Plenty of people have tried." He let go of Spencer's hair to reach down and brush his knuckles against the boy's cheek. His look softened again into something gentle. "I know you got no reason to trust me, but I made your Mom a promise, kid. I'm gonna look out for you. All parts of you. I know you're hurting right now and I wish to God I could change it. I can't promise you it won't ever hurt, cause it will. It's always gonna hurt, right down in here." He dropped his hand down to tap the knuckle of his index finger over Spencer's heart. "But it'll get easier with time. You'll start to be able to breathe again without it ripping you apart. An I'll be right here with you all the way. Got it?"

What else could Spencer do? He nodded his head. "Got it."

Those strong arms pulled him back in close and Spencer relaxed down into Logan's hold again. He didn't notice the feral rocking him, or the low rumble of his humming, but the two eventually soothed Spencer back down to sleep. This time, there were no dreams.