A/N: Warning: Mentions of rape.

Chapter 3

The next few days followed in the same pattern. They woke up at noon and slept at two in the morning. Food included take-outs (whenever Logan felt like it) and a whole lot of beef jerky. Showers happened every other day in old motels that were known for having prostitutes coming in and thankfully charged by the hour. Marie was scared the first time they stopped at one since the room itself looked like it contained every STD known to man. But she had to get over it if she ever wanted to be clean again. The first motel, Marie had selfishly insisted that Logan take his shower first so that she would be at her cleanest when they left the god forsaken place. She perched on the edge of the single bed gleefully at her trickery also knowing that Logan didn't give it another thought. She heard the squeaky faucets turn and the water spraying into the tub. Marie entertained herself by opening up the bedside drawers. In one drawer, she found pamphlets for mutant eradication and a nudie magazine. Tucked away in one corner was a weathered Bible. She picked it up with her gloved hands and flipped through the yellow pages until she got to some clumped pages, stuck together by –

Marie dropped the book in horror, nearly gagging. What the fuck! She abruptly stood up and paced the room for the remainder of the time instead. Like she did every time they stopped somewhere and Logan was out of her sight, she rummaged through her duffel to make sure it was still there. Her fingers traced the metal exterior searchingly, relief flooding her mind that it was still there. It had taken her a lot of strength –and batting power, she thought fondly of the aluminum bat she brought from home –to acquire the gun from that greasy trucker at a pit stop. After the first few times a man had tried to paw at her, she figured it was time she got one herself. She didn't know if the trucker she had beaten was good man or not but she knew she hadn't injured him too badly. She clearly remembered that he stood up and limped after her.

She quickly shuffled the clothes in her bag when she heard the water turn off. In a few minutes, Logan emerged from the bathroom with droplets falling from the ends of his hair. "All yours," he said grimly. She inhaled when he passed her, the scent of soap wafting off him. Marie entered the bathroom, a large smile stretching her cheeks at the thought of getting a hot shower. Her heart leapt to her throat at the sight of the torrent stains of yellow and black. She didn't find herself emerged in the steam of a fresh shower. She grimaced when she saw the image of herself in the murky mirror pouting. What did you expect?

They never attempted to travel too much every day. Since the truth had been revealed that the neither of them had anywhere to go, a weight had been lifted off their shoulders. Still, most of the conversations they had sourced from her while he just answered whatever he felt like.

He wasn't exactly the hitchhiking buddy she'd dreamed about but she felt that he had softened up to her just a bit. He was…kinder to her. Even offered her the cot some nights. Yet, he remained independent of her, never letting her know anything personal about him. Marie believed her mother would've been very suspicious of him. She supposed everyone in Meridian would have –they were all family: no one kept secrets. Except her, of course.

People around the town knew her well enough to know her hopes and dreams for the future. They knew her as a daughter and as a friend. But only a palm full of people knew about her mutation.

Cody was one of those people.

"Logan," Marie nearly whined. She scrunched her nose at the smoke that was still wafting to her nose. She had mutely agreed to Logan smoking in the truck as long as he had his window open all the way.

"What do you want, kid?" he asked her, attempting to lean a bit closer to his door while failing to make sure she didn't see his small act of compassion.

Marie felt a bit presumptuous asking but she felt she had to or she'd suffer longer than she ought to. "Can we stop somewhere and get something real to eat?" As good as beef jerky can be for a midnight (technically breakfast with their sleep schedule) snack, eating that after waking up to a growling stomach was enough to make her sick. Especially since they've been on this diet for more than a week.

"There's some food in the bag. Grab me something too, will ya?" he answered, not seeing the obvious problem.

She scoffed and pulled the plastic bag underneath her seat. Inside were at least thirty packets of beef jerky. The other bags behind her seat contained all the torilla chips, Oreos, candy bars, beers, and soda. The first day, she was thrilled at the sight of so much food that would fill her stomach up. Now…well, now she just wanted an apple and some broccoli.

"Yeah, I know," she groaned. "I'm perfectly aware of that." She opened a packet for him and gave it to him. "But can't we just stop and go into a restaurant for a change? I mean, have good food?"

"We're running pretty low on cash, kid. I ain't got time to take you to any fancy places anytime soon."

Marie frowned. "I don't want to go anywhere fancy; I just want to sit down somewhere and have a meal." Her frown deepened. She was being presumptuous. Who was she to make demands to a man she's only known for a week who was kind enough to take her in? And it wasn't like she was having meals in diners that often while she was on her own either. In fact, the last time she sat and ate at a restaurant was a couple weeks after she left home –after that, she had run out of cash. She scowled thinking of why she had gone to Laughlin City in the first place. She glanced at Logan. She didn't just crave the food she used to eat, but the relaxation of enjoying a good meal. A good meal with someone else.

"You must miss them a lot." Logan wasn't someone she'd want to call insensitive, but she hardly thought he was intuitive to pick up on that.

She shook her head. "I don't know." Marie thought about her family a lot –especially her mother. Despite what she'd say to anyone, her mother had been her true friend all her life. She had been the one that bought Marie her world map when Marie mentioned her thoughts of traveling. But that last look she saw….

Marie hoped he'd say something –something about himself that would resonate with how she felt. Something to show that they had some type of bond stronger than a savior-hitchhiker relationship.

But once again, Logan ignored the signs and just sighed. "Hey, kid," he said.

Marie tilted her head.

"I'll take you somewhere nice." He had a sad smile on his face –the first one she'd seen at all –and she really wanted to ask him why. She held back and tried not to ruin the moment.

After a pause, she teased, "You promise?"

"Yeah."

His promise wasn't full-filled that very day. Or the next. Marie didn't think he forgot or couldn't find any places to take her, but she didn't push him or remind him. She remembered he had said that they were low on cash and probably wouldn't have been able to afford to stop anywhere anyway.

"Kid, we need to stop at a bar today," Logan told her that evening. She nodded. They were in a little town called Maryfield. Marie felt a bit proud to say that was actually smaller than Meridian.

It felt like she hadn't been in a bar so long that she considered it foreign, even though it had only been about a week. Chewey's bar was no longer a regular bar. Cage fighting had found its way into nearly all bars these days. She didn't understand its popularity considering it revolved around a bunch of drunken men beating the living hell out of one another. But if that's what Logan needed to do to earn money, she wouldn't make a peep.

In this bar, there were more women dressed scantily, draped over men at various stage of drunkenness. Marie thought nearly everyone there was intoxicated except maybe the employees, Logan, and her.

A small booth stood in a corner in the back. Logan told her that that was where everyone placed bets.

"Can I place one?" she asked him.

"Yeah, sure," he said, distracted. He handed over a couple twentys. "It's all we got, kid."

She squinted a little, scrutinizing him. "Promise not to lose?"

He actually laughed this time, a low throaty one, that sent shiver down her spine and gave her a pointed look. "I don't lose."

Marie knew that with Logan's mutation (whether that included super strength or not…although his muscular body told another story) there was no way they would lose. Logan headed towards the cage to put his name in. She pulled her green coat tighter and walked to the booth.

A bored looking woman with straggling orange hair sat behind the makeshift, cardboard booth.

"I'd like to make a bet on Wolverine," she said, signing his name on the roster of people that were fighting tonight. She handed the woman the two bills. The woman sighed as if she wanted to be anywhere but here. Marie didn't blame her.

"Are you, or have ever been, or ever will be a mutant?" she asked lazily.

Oh, Jesus Christ.

Marie scoffed and shook her head as though the woman had offended her, and she somewhat had. The woman took her money and Marie headed towards the cage.

Ten minutes later, she stood outside the cage while Wolverine took of his jacket and shirt and tossed them towards her. She was used to seeing him half-naked. Even if this was a regular occurrence, she would probably never actually get used to seeing his body. The way his muscles moved under his skin –the way they tightened when he was tense and prepared. Marie blushed.

She neatly folded his clothes and stood behind a group of people where she still had a good view of him. The emcee this time was a young woman with long, red hair. She wore a yellow and green, skin-tight suit with knee-high leather, high-heeled boots. She looked like she walked straight out of a comic book. The woman waved her arms around as she introduced the fighters. She called Wolverine's name last. Marie could see from where she stood that the woman had winked at him.

Marie rolled her eyes and grumbled a little. She preferred the emcee in Laughlin City.

The first two men to fight were both beefy and equally drunk. The one with the gauge earring had won. One by one, Gauge-Man beat up the other drunken men, treating them like rag dolls and throwing him out of the cage. After the first two people he had taken out with blood splattering on the mat, Marie got familiar with the violence and relaxed a bit.

"This is my cage! I'm the king of this cage!" he yelled out into the crowd.

Marie grimaced. What an embarrassing thing to declare, she thought, especially since he was facing off Wolverine in the next round.

Once Marie looked away from the cage, she searched for Wolverine. He was the next fighter after a short break, so he should be getting ready to step in. Finally, she spotted him at the bar, sitting next to the emcee, taking a shot with her. The emcee gleamed like a doll and placed one hand on his bare arm, and the other on his thigh.

Marie felt a bit annoyed since she was doing what she was supposed to –which was support him and there he was not even taking the match that seriously. She huffed and turned away from them. "It's not fair," she groused to herself. She couldn't answer the logical question in her head: What's not fair?

Within a few minutes, Logan was in the cage with Gauge-Man with the emcee outside cheering for him. Marie went towards the bar as the match began to sit at the seat where Wolverine and the emcee had been sitting in earlier. She stared at the tipping jar in front of her. It was a repetition of Laughlin City except this time, she felt truly alone.

Suddenly, she was surrounded by throngs of sweaty people. Sweaty, wasted people ready to get another drink. Marie tried to sneak away from her seat and get lost in the crowd outside the cage again, but luck was not on her side tonight.

"Baby, where you goin'?" a slurred voice called out. Marie tried not to turn to look back and just pushed through the people straight towards the cage. The man didn't get a hint. A thick hand wrapped itself around her arm and yanked her back. She was face-to-face with a sweaty man, the putrid smell of his breath washing over her face.

"Let go, or I'll scream," she said in a low voice.

The man sniggered before pulling something out and holding it to her side. Marie felt a sharp point digging into her skin. "That's what I was goin' for sweetheart."

She desperately looked at the men and women around her, hoping to catch someone's eye but no one paid her any attention. Most of them were already drinking or crying over their wounds. Marie breathed hard as the man dragged her to the back of the bar and out the backdoor, far from the booth she had initially been at and unquestionably far from Wolverine. She struggled against him, but he only kept his threat of the knife closer to her body. Once they were outside, he threw her onto the ground, and kept one foot on her as he wobbled closer with his other foot.

Marie crawled back quickly and kicked his shins. She scrambled to her feet and pulled off one of her gloves and held her hands up.

"Don't you dare fucking touch me." Her voice quivered but she kept her gaze hard and strong on him. She hurriedly glanced around her feet as if it would materialize her duffel bag with her precious weapon. The last couple men who tried this backed down very easily after seeing the gun aimed right at their chests. At least the gun would have been the safer alternative. The man, unforuntely didn't have an option and didn't listen and charged at her, fury written on his face, curses spewing out of his mouth. In an act of defense, she reached out and pushed his face. It didn't take long. Even less time than it took Cody to pass out.

Jeremy Smith, aged 37, divorced, two kids, abusive parents…a failure at life.

Watching him lay there with his eyes open in fear –fear of her –she didn't really know who the bad guy was here. But as the images of his life passed through her mind, she saw the image of what he planned to do to her. She saw her body, naked and forced to the ground as he raped her. She saw herself screaming and him having the power to quiet her. She saw anger he would take out on her body. Her resolve drained from her body.

She went back inside without a sound or another look back at the man. She grabbed Wolverine's clothes from the bar and stood outside the cage where she was supposed to.

The crowd was already angry because almost everyone had bet on Gauge-Man. The emcee was holding up Wolverine's hand, cheering his name on. Marie watched Wolverine, trying to focus on the one thing that wouldn't make her scream over what just happened.

Their eyes met and she could see the question in his, but Marie shook her head and gave him a small smile.

"Kid, what's going on?" Logan asked her after collecting their winnings for the night. He split the four rolls of cash into two and closed her hand over her half. Marie felt a twinge of guilt from the happiness in her heart. Our winnings. Her smile dropped when he saw his other winning slowly trailing behind them.

"It's nothin'," she told him. She contemplated the woman behind them and sighed. Leaning closer to him, she said, "I'm going to head to the camper. You go celebrate." Marie tilted her head quickly towards the emcee, orientated close by.

Even in the dim lights, she saw the question building in his face. "Not much to celebrate, when we both knew I was going to win." He had a smirk on his face. Marie glowed.

Marie lifted her eyebrows. "Are you sure? You have a pretty lady waiting for you."

She thought he was going to agree and walk away but he surprised her when he nodded, ruffled her hair, and put his arm around her shoulder. Her shoulders stiffened at his touch but her muscles loosened a bit when she remembered that she was covered fully from the neck down. "You're right," he said. "Now, let's go."

They walked out of the bar, hearing a loud "Bastard!" behind them. When Marie looked quizzically at him, he replied with a short, "She paid for my drinks." Marie's resolve faltered and she laughed out loud. She felt the tears spring up in her eyes. "Bastard," she echoed with the woman.

A/N: Sorry for the delayed update! I'm a full-time student and part-time worker so it's difficult to find the time sometimes. I have a good chunk of the story written out but I am wanting to go in a slightly different direction that originally planned. What I would like to hear from you guys is: would you like to see the X-Men involved or keep them out? Let me know with a review! Thanks for reading! 3