Thank you to my reviewers: gaben, TwilightAddict, Zandra, lajoci, nita6546, carita, Little Red Riding Brat, Sarah, Kima00, Raven34link.

I was asked in a review if Anna has any powers yet. The answer is no, not at the moment. I was messing around with the idea she would get some kind of power, but not a soul-sucking skin condition. I think I'm quite happy to buck the trend there.

Free Tears and a Smoke

Logan ignored the no-smoking sign, lighting one of his famous cigars with the snap of a heavy metallic lighter. He was starting to lose his mind surrounded by the stench in here, death was clogging every inch of space and he growled deeply in his chest. Chomping on his cigar, he looked at his kid sister every now and then, searching for something to say, but found he was unable to strike up a conversation in the middle of the waiting room. What could he tell her that she didn't already know?

"You no smoke here!" a mocha-skinned woman with broken English called, pointing time and again at the sign. "No allowed smoking. No, no, no!"

Anna lifted her miserable gaze from her bootlaces and pinned her brother with an unimpressed look. "Can't do nothin' right, can ya?" she muttered huffily.

Heaving a heavy sigh, he stood to his feet and stretched, hearing his joints pop. "I'll be outside," he grunted, cigar between his lips. "If you need anything, poke your head out the door and call me, okay?" he added, taking his leave with a glare directed at the cleaner who'd given him an earache.

She didn't answer Jimmy, choosing to show a little more interest in the room now he'd left her alone. The woman opposite her seemed to calm as the smell of smoke faded from the air, and she started to polish the chequered floor, smothering each tile with a helping of wax. Their eyes met and Anna shrugged, standing up and wandering away. She had some exploring to do because somebody real important was calling to her.

The building they were hanging out in was on the edge of the small town, shaped like a postage stamp and probably the same size as one, too. So, it didn't take her long for her wander-lust to come to an end as she crept down the gloomy corridor, her sneakers scuffing the tiles. The sunshine yellow walls were dotted with photos of happy scenes, fishing trips, daddies with their sons, and mamas with their daughters. They were grinning at her through the Perspex glass and she scowled, slowling her pace. She wanted to cry, but the tears refused to budge from her stubborn eyes: there was somebody she needed to see badly and if she started sobbing now her feet were going to stick like superglue to the chess board-style floor coverings under her toes.

Anna breathed deeply, stepping over to the large, looming door and closed her eyes for a punch of time, listening to the feelings inside her. She would do this because she was no coward and she owed this to herself. This all needed to be put behind her and opening this door would mean real heavy closure. Blindly reaching for the brass handle, she turned it and tried not to remember what she's been met with the last time she had walked in a room which had housed her mama. Those memories would haunt her forever and a day, and she weren't seeking to make things worse.

An acne-swarmed man cleared his whiskey scarred throat, and Anna opened her eyes. She weren't ready yet, not for the real ugly sight she was taking in. Her mama lay there as cold as December, pale and rigid; two men trying to strong arm her corpse into the coffin. Tears exploded from her raging eyes, and Anna flew at them. "Ya let go of mah mama!" she bawled, the pain polluting her strained voice.

Fifteen years ago…

Hopping off his beat-up motorcycle, Logan grinned and swung his duffle bag onto his broad shoulder. "Hey pa," he greeted, waiting for the man to close the distance between him and the old family house. "How's things since… You know?"

John Howlett, beaming with pride, pulled his son into a loving hug, feeling choked up as the last week came to comfort him in his mind."James, you're early," he announced in surprise. "We weren't expecting you until tomorrow. There's no food in the house except cans and leftovers."

Logan shrugged, not bothered in the least. "I can fix some grub, pa. I'm not exactly a chef, but I know how to work a toaster. And I finished work earlier than I expected," he grunted, patting his dad on the back before letting him go. "How's ma holding up?"

The gentle man sighed and led his son across the dusty, water-starved ground, then up the creaking steps of the front porch. "It was touch and go for a moment, but we all made it through the troubles in one piece." His older than time eyes swam with tears. "We nearly lost the baby," he added quietly.

His brow creasing in worry, Logan hadn't known the birth had been that difficult. His pa had always had a way of pretending everything was fine when they chatted on the phone. "The kid's fine though, right?" he grunted, his heart sinking as he waited for news on his sibling.

"Yes," his pa answered after what seemed like an eternity. He walked inside the house and held the door open for James. "Anna-Marie's upstairs in her nursery, and she's beautiful."

"You called her Anna-Marie?" Logan grinned, his face almost splitting in two. "Hell, I've got a kid sister."

"And I've got a daughter," the older man announced with a watery smile, tears rolling down his ecstatic cheeks as he shut the door. "A little girl to watch grow, laugh with and love. I can show her the animals on the farm, teach her how to ride a horse, and take her to one of those father daughter dances." He wiped his tears away. "She's going to bring us luck, James. I can just feel it. Anna's what we needed in this family. Your mother's going to get better now she has another child who needs her."

Logan wasn't sure if he believed the part about his ma, and he remained silent. The woman had scars that ran deeper than the largest ocean and the doctors had barely scratched the surface inside her fragile mind.

"I thought we'd lost her when God called your brother home that stormy summer's night, but he's given us another chance now, another blessing and her name's Anna-Marie Howlett," the man said, shaking his head at his tears. "How about we have a drop of whiskey to celebrate? I know I hid a bottle of it somewhere."

Logan nodded, starting to climb the well lit staircase. "Sure," he replied, watching his pa head for the large kitchen at the back of the house. "You mind if I go check on the baby first?"

"Be my guest," John Senior called, scratching his head and looking searchingly around the kitchen. "I need to find the whiskey. I suppose I never thought we'd have a reason to celebrate again or I would have remembered where I'd put it."

Chuckling at the man's words, Logan sniffed the air as he reached the top of the stairs. His nostrils caught the new scent and he followed the trail slowly down the hall. He smiled warmly to himself and couldn't believe how innocent and pure the smell was. This particular scent hadn't been broken by the world yet and there was no emotion to detect, only pure naughtiness.

"You're losing your mind, Wolverine," he snorted, shaking his head. "Babies sure as hell don't smell naughty." He cracked open the door to the nursery and glanced in, finally treading inside the room when he decided it wasn't going to scar the baby for life if she caught sight of his face.

"Hey there, little darlin'," he greeted, reaching into the same sturdy mahogany crib he used to sleep in when he was a rugrat. Gently picking up the wriggling bundle of baby, he was almost struck dumb by her beauty.

Logan sat down in a trance and cradled the girl to his chest, brushing his large palm over the soft flakes of downy brown fluff on her head. "You know who I am?" he asked gently, his eyes captivated by her pale and very serious looking face. "I don't think you've been told me about me, yet. Most people call me Wolverine, others Logan, but I'll let you go wild calling me Jimmy."

Her large, pale green eyes gazed up at the strange man and Logan was mesmerised. He held one of her tiny hands in his and couldn't believe how small it was sitting on his calloused paw. Hell, she was so small; he would have to try ten times harder to keep her safe.

"I'm your big brother, darlin'," he whispered to her. "And you've already captured ma and pa's heart. Want mine, too? Well, you've got it, but let me give you some advice now, Kiddo. You better stay away from the boys out there." He smirked, tapping her button nose with his finger. "Boys aren't nice, even when they're your age. What do you think to that, Anna?"

The baby gurgled and Logan grinned. "You're going to give me trouble when you're older," he chuckled, tickled by how vocal she'd become. "The fact you're agreeing with me doesn't bode well for our future, kiddo'."

The Present Day…

Logan almost choked down his half-smoked cigar when he heard his kid sister hollering and carrying on inside the funeral home. Cussing a long blue streak, he snuffed out his smoke and tossed it over his shoulder. "Shit!" he grumbled, worried over the attention Anna was giving to her lungs. He burst through the entrance, leaping over the old lady scrubbing the floor and skidded to a stop by the room his Ma's body was in. "Hey!" he called to his sister, scowling and trying to yank her off the man she was hammering with her fists. "Anna-Marie, stop it!"

Catching sight of his ma's body, his heart sunk and he could see the funeral home had done a good job attempting to smudge the bullet hole away with make-up. He tore his gaze off the corpse and hauled his sister over his shoulder before she knocked the guy clean-out. "Sorry about that," he grunted to the undertakers, keeping tight hold of his spitfire of a sister as he carried her out the room.

The crawling memory of his dead ma haunting his mind, he didn't stop walking until he was in the parking lot and only smelt the faint tinge of death in the cool breeze of the afternoon sunlight. "Anna!" Logan barked, setting the girl on her feet and shaking her by the shoulders. "What the hell were you doing back there?"

His sister was sobbing up such a storm, he could hardly make out a word she was saying and it broke what was left of his heart. "Darlin'," he sighed, pulling her into his burly arms and hugging the life out of her. "I didn't mean to snap at you. C'mon darlin', don't cry. Everything's going to be just fine." He picked her up again, cradling her to his chest like he used to do when she was small, and rocked her back and forth. "Hell, I'm a jackass. I know that, Kid. I shouldn't have yelled like that."

"J-Jimmy," Anna hiccupped, her pale cheeks littered with sharp, plump tears.

"Yeah, it's me and I'm not leaving you again," he promised gruffly, planting a kiss on her forehead.

"They were hurtin' Mama!" she whimpered desperately, her vocal cords bouncing around. "Ah saw 'em! Those guys in there, Ah opened the door an' they were draggin' her about, they were real rough!"

Logan froze, a deep rumble vibrating in his ribcage and the rage rising faster than a speeding bullet. He unlocked the passenger door to his jeep and sat Anna down on the seat, buckling her in. "Stay here," he ordered, wiping her tears away. "I'll deal with it." He shut the door, pocketing his keys as he turned around, his boots landing with a crunch on the gravelled lot.

His knuckles itching, he stalked toward the funeral home, his mind racing with dark thoughts. That was the most his sister had talked to him in days and she was fucking upset over some fuckers manhandling their dead ma! He threw open the first set of doors, almost ripping them free from their hinges as he heard the conversion leaking from the roof the viewing room.

"Dude, just shove her in there," one of the undertakers spat out, sounding tense.

"I forgot my gloves! I don't want to touch her again. She'll be rotting soon, anyway. You're the one who dropped her, too. I want a fucking whiskey, Trey, not a headache."

His anger bristling, Logan stopped outside the door, releasing a thunderous growl. He shouldered his way inside was face-to-face with two potheads and their knocking knees. "Get . Away. From. Her." he snarled, barely able to talk as he approached them with clenched fists. Swinging his arm, he clipped one of the men on the jaw, sending him flying out the room. The feral then picked the over one up by the front of his shirt, pulling him closer into the jaws of the Wolverine. "I ever see you again, I'm going to shred you into ribbons," he threatened in a violent whisper, lifting the man clean off his feet and throwing him out the door to join his friend.

Taking a deep breath, Logan tried to calm down while the sounds of scrambling limbs and squeaks filled his ears. He turned around, his gaze dropping to the ground. "Let's get you up off the floor, ma," he said, walking closer to the deceased woman and gently scooping her into his arms.

The stench of death was overwhelming, but he wouldn't trust anybody to do this after what his sister had seen. "I'm sorry about that," he sighed, carrying her across the old oak floor panels that creaked underneath his weight. "I know you never liked seeing me losing my temper. But hell, they had it coming and I went easy on them."

It was a tight fit but he laid his ma out in her coffin and looked down at her pale face. "Pa always said he liked seeing you in that dress you're wearing. He called you a knock-out," he told her, making small talk. "I guess it doesn't matter that I have a problem with religion, you're up there with pa now, right?" He shook his head, wishing that was true but he knew the woman was finally at peace because there wasn't life after death – there was silence while your bones turned to dust.

"You know, I can't get my head around how different Anna looks. She's almost fully-grown now, ma." He frowned and scratched his heavy set jaw. "What the hell were you thinking leaving her like that? She still needs you, damn it! The kid's lost both you and pa." He heaved a sorry sigh. "If I'd known you were struggling I would have come back. Why didn't you call me, huh? I would've come for you and Anna-Marie! I could've helped! Shit ma, what the hell made you point that gun at your head? You must have known who'd find you bleeding out."

Logan looked away, swallowing the lump in his throat. He couldn't remember the last time he'd shed a tear, but it was probably when his pa's heart had stopped beating. He couldn't break down now though, he had to be strong for Anna. "Just so you know," he grunted out, glancing back to scared woman's face. "I'm gonna be taking care of Anna from now on. You never thought much of me when you were alive, but here's hoping you've changed your tune now because after what you did, I'm all she's got left."

With a respectful nod, Logan began to walk away, needing to go chew the funeral home manager out. "I'll bring Anna back to see you when she's calmed down." As an afterthought, he paused at the door and turned to face the open coffin. "I'm going to raise her just like you and pa would have done, okay? I promise you that. I couldn't keep you safe, but I'll do everything in my power to keep Anna-Marie out of harm's way." Logan sighed again and left the private room, the smell of his ma riddling his senses.