Enter My House

Omnia mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis.
All things change, and we change with them.

Thankfully, the rest of the ride into camp passed in silence. Finally the main lodge came into sight and Logan pulled the Jeep up in front of it and killed the engine. This was the center of his camp. A long time ago, this had been a prime resort with an impressive main lodge and a few hundred cabins scattered throughout the surrounding land. Now, the lodge served as camp headquarters and the dormitory for all girls who were under the age of consent. All other residents, one hundred and eighty-three at last count, lived in the cabins spread throughout the vast park. His inner circle was always here, but the others took turns in shifts working here so no one person would feel more important than any other.

"Power."

Logan turned in his seat to look at the owner of that voice.

Kitty spoke again, with awe in her voice. "You have power here." Logan nodded. It was one of their best kept secrets - one the outside world knew nothing about. Not much got by this kid. No wonder Slim picked her. "How is that possible?"

"We gotta guy here, goes by Glitch." Logan paused. "He usedta build up this charge that threw anythin' electrical 'round here outta whack." A smug grin crossed his face. "'Till we figured out that he don't have that problem if he bleeds off his excess juice into the back-up generators. The supply's pretty much endless." Thank God, there was at least one thing he didn't have to strictly ration.

"Refrigeration." Ororo's voice was soft. That was how he was able to feed so many people throughout the winter and into the lean spring months. Logan nodded.

"Hot showers." Jean sounded excited. Logan's nostrils flared. On the ride back, he'd felt her eyes sliding over his body more than once... and from her scent, she obviously wasn't thinking about a solitary shower. Even though her thought had been entirely self-involved, he couldn't really fault her for that. The fact was hot showers were one of the perks of living here. A lot of people had done without for so long that a hot shower was not only something to be enjoyed physically, but it was a reminder of the way things used to be. They were a simple thing, but did a lot for morale. As a leader, he found her self-centeredness a little disappointing, but as a man who was very tactile, he understood - and shared - her desire to glory in the sensual delights of a hot shower.

"Computers." Kitty's voice was even, but Logan noticed she was rubbing her fingers together unconsciously - the same way a drunk did when he was thirsty and you mentioned alcohol.

Hmmm. Interestin'.

"There somethin' I should know about here, kid?" His voice was dry.

Kitty flushed. "I sorta have this uh, gift, for that kinda stuff - computers I mean." Logan's eyebrow rose. "No, not that kind of 'gift'. I can just, um, figure stuff out, I guess."

"Good to know. I'll have someone hook you up later." He noticed Kitty's eyes practically glazed over at the mention of getting 'hooked up'. He hadn't meant it literally, but hell, if this kid could help keep their computers running smoothly, he'd be more than happy to hook her up both literally and figuratively.

Logan climbed out of the Jeep and waited for the girls to do the same. He'd lost count of the number of times he'd had to make this particular speech. He hated doing it now just as much as he had the first time.

"There's some rules you gotta agree to before you enter my house," he gestured to the lodge behind him and crossed his arms over his chest. "If you don't like 'em, Pyro, here," he nodded at the young man who had silently materialized by the steps of the lodge, "Will drive you back to the gate and you can try makin' it on your own." He paused, and the tip of his cigar glowed red. "Up to you."

Nobody had ever chosen to leave before, but he knew people always responded better when they felt like they had a choice - however shitty it might be. "First off, I wantcha to know you'll be safe here. The penalty for harmin' a woman is death. They know it. Now you know it." He saw the girls nodding solemnly. Good. They needed to realize that rule wasn't something he fucked around with.

"Here's how it works. If you're underage, you stay here in the main lodge 'till you're old enough to choose a man of your own. If you're already over the age of consent, you get your pick of the available men." He took another puff on his cigar. "That part ain't as bad as it sounds, either. It ain't like you just gotta pick one outta the blue. The night before the claimin' - which happens two days from now - those of you who are old enough will have the chance to get to talk with anyone who's interested."

He watched as both Ororo and Jean relaxed slightly. He knew from experience that it could be a bit overwhelming for the girls to be the object of so much focused male attention, but it was better than picking someone they'd never even spoken with before.

"I know that two days ain't much time for you to get usedta things, but it's too dangerous to have unclaimed women in camp." His voice was flat. "Causes too much fightin' between the men." He'd learned that the hard way. His rules might be strict, but there was a good reason for each and every one of them.

"At the claimin', you pick someone and move from my house - my protection - to his. I wantcha to know, no matter what, he ain't allowed to hurtcha or make ya do anythin' you don't wanna do." That comment was aimed more at the older two, but he wasn't about to sugar coat it for Kitty. If she was going to lead at Scott's side one day, she couldn't afford to be insulated from the truth.

"And if the paring doesn't work out?" Ororo's voice was quiet, but not hesitant.

"I ask that you give it a season. After that, if it doesn't work you're allowed to choose again, but ya can't ever go back. I got enough shit to worry 'bout without mediatin' lovers' disputes." He didn't add that most often, in those cases, the first man usually challenged the second and was either killed or left the camp entirely. Women were simply too precious to give up without a fight. Thankfully, it didn't happen very often. The few men who had women knew how lucky they were, and worked hard to make sure their mates were content.

For a moment, Logan's attention shifted to the dark clouds gathering on the horizon, but it quickly came back to the girls. "We gotta priest here and most couples choose to get married after livin' together for a season or two."

All three girls nodded. Good. "That's the deal. Take it or leave it." He paused. "There's one last thing." His voice grew hard. "Whoever you were out there - in the world - that person dies when you step into my house." This was necessary, not so much for these young women, but for the men who joined his camp who were used to being in positions of power. Whether you were former head of a Fortune Five Hundred company or a garbage man, you had equal worth inside the camp. "Everyone is equal here. So check your egos and your names at the door." He chewed the cigar in his teeth. As much as he hated this speech, this part was always kind of fun.

"What do you mean?" It was Jean asking this time, not Ororo.

"Well, darlin', I mean you needta pick a name that everyone here will know you by. If you wanna share your real name with someone down the line - well, that's on you." He leaned casually against the Jeep. "Tellin' your real name ain't against the rules or nothin', but it ain't exactly encouraged, either. You get me?"

Again all three girls nodded. Now for the fun part. Logan turned to Ororo. "So, what's it gonna be, honey?"

She was quiet a moment. "You may call me Storm."

Logan looked her up and down. "It's fittin'." He grinned around the cigar stub in his teeth and turned to Kitty. "What 'bout you?" The young kids were always a source of amusement for him. They picked some of the most unusual names. He bit back a chuckle. "Well?"

"I'm thinking." Her small brow furrowed. "This name will be with me a long time."

Logan was a little surprised. Most ten year olds didn't have that kind of long-term thinking. Scott would like that. If anyone could think somethin' to death - it's him. Heh.

"What about Shadowcat?"

Logan gave Kitty the once over. It wasn't as bad as some names he'd heard over the years, and she did possess that odd shadowlike stillness. Logan grinned inwardly. Shadowcat and Cyclops? Definitely not your usual, but they did seem to fit somehow. He was the red light and she was the shadows. He gave Kitty a rare smile. "Suits ya."

Logan turned to Jean. "What about you, Red?"

"I just want to be Jean." She smiled at him and let just a hint of coquettishness into her voice. "Is that against the rules?"

Fuckin' figures, she'd just hafta be difficult.

She seemed like the type to want everyone to know who she was, but it wasn't really against the rules because nobody had ever refused to choose a new name. Most people, if they didn't have one already, were eager for the chance at a new start, a new beginning, with a fresh slate and a new name. He stared at her a long moment. He could force her to choose a name, but she'd just go and tell everyone her real name anyway, whereas if he let her keep her name, he'd look like he was granting her something.

See, darlin', it's all about power - perceived... and otherwise.

"Fine by me." Of course, she didn't see the larger picture. There was a certain type of bond made between friends here when they revealed their true names to each other. Jean would never be a part of that now, but that was her choice - and her loss.

He needed to get them settled, but this time was going to be a little out of the ordinary. There was no way he was going to let Kitty stay in the lodge. That was fine for the others, but he wanted her close. He owed it to Scott. He wondered what everyone was going to think when he took Kitty into his home. Not the lodge - his real home. His personal cabin.

If things went the way he wanted, he'd be taking Jean there, too. It wouldn't be permanent. She wasn't the kind of woman he could see himself spending forever with. That place was reserved for Marie, and Marie alone, but he was tired of his solitary existence and it would be years before Marie was ready to be with him in that sense. He was tired of sleeping in a cold bed. Tired of finding release alone or with the occasional woman he ran across on the rare occasions he left the camp to 'appropriate' new supplies. They usually seemed to want what he had to give, a good hard roll in the hay, but that impersonal physical release had long ago grown old. He wanted something different now.

It wasn't just the sex, although that was a large part of it. Even he, hardened as he was, craved the softness that a woman could provide. He wanted to come home to a cabin that wasn't dark and cold. He missed the kind of intimate conversation that only lovers shared. Mostly it was just the simple things. He wanted to have someone to talk to over coffee in the evenings. Someone to help ease his burden when he felt overwhelmed by the hard decisions he was forced to make each and every day. He wanted someone to wrap himself around on those cold winter nights when the howling wind buffeted the small cabin and seeped icily through hidden cracks and under closed doors.

He'd had two women under his protection, his personal protection, in the seven years he'd lived here. Noriko was the first. She was a godsend to him in the beginning when he was establishing this camp. She had the 'gift' of seeing into men's hearts, divining truth, and helping them to find balance. She could quite literally make order out of chaos. She'd helped him shape and refine what had become the laws governing this camp. She'd also warmed his bed and soothed the beast raging inside him when all the responsibility pressing down on him had been too much to bear.

He still missed her sometimes. Three summers ago she'd gone to Scott's camp because she was afraid if she didn't leave then, she wouldn't be able to when the time came, and she'd seen into his heart. She knew he was destined to be with another - the rogue child with dual hearts. The one who would bring him both fire and peace. She'd been right to leave when she did. They weren't in love; they simply balanced each other out. Last summer he'd heard from Hank that Noriko had married the man she'd seen in her visions, the one whose heart matched hers. It was clear there was more Hank had wanted to tell him, but he didn't want to know the details and thankfully Hank understood that. Logan was glad she'd found happiness, but it only served to remind him that he was still alone.

Natalie, the second woman who'd been under his personal protection, was a quiet dark-haired woman. This time, he didn't offer his protection because he wanted someone in his bed or because he needed someone to lean on. He did it because he'd always had a bad habit of picking up strays, and she needed a break. She'd been one of the few to escape from the death camps, a survivor, but also a terrified kid - barely seventeen. She was horribly scarred and emotionally withdrawn and he knew whatever fragile threads holding her sanity together would snap if she didn't get some time to heal.

He offered her his protection when she came of age and she accepted gratefully, knowing he wouldn't push her into anything she wasn't ready for. She was with him a year before she came out of her shell, and it was another six months after that before their relationship became sexual. She never loved him. That part of her was damaged beyond repair, but she trusted him and he knew she'd enjoyed the physical pleasure she'd found in his bed.

She died last winter when a particularly virulent strain of the flu swept through the camp. She just wasn't strong enough. She was tired of fighting, tired of scratching and clawing each and every day just to survive. She never told him about the spark of new life just beginning to grow inside her. The burden he carried on his shoulders was heavy enough already. In the end, she only held his hand and told him that it was okay. She was ready to rest, and he let her go without a fight because he'd long ago learned that once the will to live was gone, the body soon followed.

As sad as it was to let her go, a part of him recognized that she wasn't his true mate or he'd never have been able to let her go without a fight. They'd never loved each other; they simply found comfort in each other's company. And even as he said goodbye to her, a part of him ached for the woman who wouldn't give up, the woman who could bring him both fire and peace.

He buried her, and the child she didn't think he knew about, in the meadow above his cabin. Somehow, he was sure that whoever had implanted the adamantium had never intended it for that use. The claws cut through everything else though... why not permafrost?

Logan sighed heavily and rubbed his knuckles absentmindedly as he looked at the three girls standing before him. They were all survivors. None of them would give up the way Nat had. His eyes darted again to the dark clouds gathering on the edge of the horizon before flicking back to the girls.

"It's settled then." He stepped aside and made a curt gesture of acceptance. "Storm, Shadowcat and Jean, welcome to my house."

The three girls heard the formality in his voice and understood that accepting his offer of protection came with some rather weighty consequences. Not surprisingly, Kitty was the first to step forward and speak.

"I agree. Your rules. Your protection."

"Me too." That, from Jean.

Storm was silent a moment as Logan's eyes came to rest upon her. "I accept your protection and I offer my loyalty in return."

Logan heard the answering formality in her words and understood the implicit meaning in them. He grunted in answer, but met her eyes and gave her a firm nod. She would be one to watch. Few people gave the answer she did. Not surprisingly, most of the ones who had were now members of his inner circle. She would be a good match for the Cajun.

Logan turned to the young man at the edge of the steps. "Pyro, get 'em settled." He jerked his head at Storm and Jean. "I'll be back for her later." He indicated Kitty. "She'll be stayin' with me, up at the cabin." Logan could see the question in Pyro's eyes, but the kid knew better than to question a direct order, especially in front of other people.

Pyro nodded, knowing Logan would explain it all to him in his own time. "Will do, boss." He climbed the rough wooden steps and opened the heavy lodge door. The mouth-watering smells of beef stew, fresh bread and hot coffee wafted out and made their stomachs growl. He turned to the girls. "Come with me." He smiled at them and suddenly he seemed a lot less like the Wolverine's executive officer and a lot more like a gangly teenager. "Hot food, hot showers and a warm bed are just a few of the perks the WD has to offer."

"WD?" Somehow, Kitty was sure 'WD' didn't stand for 'Welcome Department'.

Pyro grinned. "Ladies, welcome to the Wolverine's Den."