'...' - Thoughts
Italic - Marie's psyches
[...] - Wolverine psyche inside Logan
{...} - Telepathic conversations
While writing this story I kept on listening to 'Wolf and I' by 'Oh Land'. If you want you can listen to it as well. I just fell in love with its haunting melody. And somehow it suits Anna's monlogue and the conversation between Logan and Marie.
xXx
Chapter Six
I never understood humans. I've spent nearly two decades with one, technically inside her head, even then I don't have an insight on what humans are. All I know is that Marie and I have been together since the moment we were created. Even before the body was born we were together inside her mother's womb. She doesn't remember, but I do. We have been together even before we came into the world and will be together long after the world rots away. Anna and Marie, never the same but always together, just divided by a fine line. Thus Anna-Marie.
I wonder if her mother knew how appropriately she named her daughter. Or perhaps she did. After all she could see the future. Perhaps she saw me as well.
That's another thing so uniquely human. They are so obsessed with defining things and naming them. Who they are, what they are to others, what they will become, what they feel. Everything and sometimes even nothing needs to be named.
Marie was different. She never questioned things. And, well, I'm a mutation. I don't need to question things. Not sure if I can feel things either. All we knew was that we are meant to be together. Anna and Marie. Anna-Marie.
But now that she is hiding from me. Purposefully keeping me away. I'm starting to take a deeper look at what we are and what we will become. Am I her mother or am I her child? Is she my master or is she my slave?
According to Greek mythology, humans were originally created with four arms, four legs and a head with two faces. Fearing their powers, Zeus separated them into two parts and condemned them to spend their lives in search of their other halves. And since human nature was originally one and they wanted to be whole, this desire and pursuit to become whole again is called love. But what does this mean for us? Are we blessed since we were born with the other? Or are we cursed because we will never feel the need to find love?
Are we soul mates? Are we two different souls or different aspects of the same soul? Are we lovers or sister or friends? Or are we enemies, fighting for control till the end of eternity? I don't have the answers. I'm just a mutation. I'm not even sure if I'm supposed to think. But even after all this I still know that we have to stay together.
I've always been with her. Her guardian. Her parents called it sweet that she had an imaginary friend. Somehow even then she knew that I'm not a make-believe thing other children had. But it never bothered us. We didn't question it. Why would we? We were whole. We repaired the damage, filled in cracks and were whole again. Anna and Marie, divided but together. Anna-Marie.
And then it changed. Everything changed. In our sixteenth year together, we realized what we are and we have to become. Mutant and her mutation. It was like being set on fire. Even then it didn't change us. It didn't change what we are to each other. It didn't change the fact that we are meant to be together. And yes, she changed to become the Rogue, but for me, just for me, inside our very own little world, she was still my sweet and gentle Marie and I was still her kind and strong Anna.
Or perhaps we changed together and didn't notice any difference. Anywho. It didn't matter. We were on a mission now. Anna and Marie, separate but always in need of each other. Anna-Marie.
We thought we finally understood what we are. Mutant and her mutation. Because when we touched the humans they didn't have their other selves. They weren't whole. However when we actually touched other mutants we were proven wrong. Even though we could take Wade's memories, life force and personality, we couldn't take his powers. At the time we thought it was because they weren't his 'natural' powers. So perhaps his other self was damaged. But even after when we touched Carol, we found out that she didn't have her other self either. She wasn't whole.
We were the only ones who were whole. Did this mean we were blessed or that we were cursed? We stopped thinking about it, until we touched Logan and Jean. Logan was different, he was never supposed to have his other self. I'm not sure if Wolverine can be called his other self either. But somehow he found a way to be whole. Or managed to become a poor imitation of it.
Jean made us understand. Jean and Phoenix, that is. They were the first ones, who were exactly like us. Albeit the damaged version of us. And it just confirmed our belief that we will always need each other. If we ever lost the other, we wouldn't survive. We would go mad. We are bonded to each other for life. Everytime I look at Jean and Phoenix, I realize how strong the bond really is. Even after being separated, they feel the other. They still want to be together.
And then we knew we are blessed to have each other. We are together to sing our song. It's funny if you think about it, that the most befitting analogy came from a nutcase. But if the shoe fits.
Save for the fact that just because you are blessed in one thing doesn't mean you can't be cursed in others. My sweet and gentle Marie is cursed. Cursed to always lose love. The love of a parent, the love of a sibling, the love of a friend, the love of a husband. She is cursed to lose them all, everytime.
I never understood love or any other emotions. I'm a mutation, so what use are emotions to me. Except they are important to her, so I try to pay attention to them for her sake.
Marie never believed in fairytales. Not even as a child. She never felt the need to. Why would she, when she had me and together we could create our own world in her mind. Marie always wanted a 'normal' tale, so to speak. She didn't want fancy gowns, big palaces or Prince Charming. She just wanted normal. But ever since that one humid evening, when we put Cody in a coma, normal became unachievable.
I truly wanted her to be happy. And for a while back there it seemed she could be. She had her normal. However once cursed always cursed. She didn't just lose her normal, rather she found out that it was never real in the first place.
So now she has two choices. She can continue with her fake normal and sacrifice Wade. Or she can save the most precious person in her life. Now you understand why she chose to hide. She ran away to avoid making this decision. And I can't blame her. Just the illusion of that happiness was enough for Marie. Although even that was taken away from her.
Now she is broken. And lost
Nevertheless I will stand by her, patiently waiting. For her to call me again. For her to need me again.
Repair the damage.
Fill the cracks.
Become whole again.
xXx
Logan was conducting a punishing Danger Room session with the Junior team, before dinner. That is what anyone could see at the surface, when the truth was that he was trying to make sense of what happened recently. And while he wasn't proving to be successful in doing that, he had managed to establish the fact that Marie may be the only person on this planet who makes him feel so confused. Which did not help his rising levels of frustration. Or the students, who were at the receiving end of his frustration.
Marie may make him feel confuse, but Anna pissed the hell out of him. If harming Anna didn't mean he would also be hurting Marie, he would've chopped that girl's head a long time ago. After meeting Anna, Logan has a whole new appreciation for his now seemingly sane feral side. How can a mutation be so annoying? And it hasn't even been 24 hours since anyone of them has met her.
To be fair, the others weren't as annoyed with Anna as Logan was. It's just that in his head Wolverine's warning of losing Marie forever was playing on a loop. Although everyone did find it weird that Anna always addressed Jean as the 'ticking time-bomb'.
He was so busy with his thoughts that he didn't notice that Alex and Anna had joined them in the room. Well, he thought she was Anna. At first he only noticed the burning smell, (interestingly enough, Jean also had this burning smell, and since she started to have private telepathic sessions with Chuck, the burning smell seems to be getting stronger) but on the second sniff he noticed that the smell of pine and summer was back.
He quickly gave the command for stopping the stimulation. Everyone, that is, the kids, Hank, Scooter and Ro, turned to him to find out what was wrong. It's not like Logan to stop an exercise mid-way because of an injury. Jean was with Chuck, again having another session with him, which he found out was not common but had become a regular event since the wedding.
"Marie," said Logan, which made the others finally notice the newcomers. "You're back."
"Yes, sugah." There was pin-drop silence. "Actually,... Ah was wondering if Ah could join you guys. Hell, if being shot at while at a classic recon mission has told me anything is that Ah'm out of practice. Shouldn't have let mah 16 years old self stay in control too long. Should've just left a long time ago." She suddenly found the tips of her boots very interesting.
Logan then noticed that she was wearing a green and yellow cat-suit. He had noticed she was wearing another one just like that, when he rescued Anna from the library, but now that he knew it truly was Marie, he appreciated even more.
Alex jumped in to fill in the silence, that had enveloped over them again and said, "That's an interesting idea. A round of Superheroes vs. Assassins. With an unique twist of course."
Scooter regained his ability to talk again and asked, "What sort of twist?"
Alex and Marie only smiled quite mischievously at each other and together said, "You'll see."
"Sure why not?" came the reply from Bobby of all the people. "We'll love to see what an assassin can actually do."
"Well," said Hank, "It's not particularly a bad idea. Though I will not be participating. I think I got hit by one of Cyclops's blasts." He then turned towards Marie and asked, "But are you sure that you're fine, my dear. I mean you did receive a severe spinal injury."
Before Marie could reply, Alex said, "Don't worry Hank. She's completely fine. Why don't you and I sit down here and enjoy the show."
"You're not fighting?" asked Kitty. "I thought this was like, you guys against us sort of thing."
"Oh no Kit-Kat," said Alex. "It's Superheroes vs. Assassins, and I'm just the go-to guy for a bunch of assassins. So I'm afraid you all have to fight just her." He pointed towards Marie, who still appeared nonchalant.
Logan started speaking, "Wait a minute. We're not-"
"Fine" interrupted Bobby. "We can most definitely take her on."
"Try interrupting me on more time, Popsicle, and I'll-"
"Oh come on, Logan." said Marie. "It'll be fun. Or are you afraid that even with your training they can't beat me. Besides it's all fun and games."
Logan continued to stare right at Marie for a complete minute, as if trying to find out what she was truly looking for. And then conceded. "Fine. Let's do this. But no powers-"
"With powers." said both Alex and Marie. And before he could argue, Marie gave the orders for the stimulation to begin.
It was over before it even began. Marie got hit by every single one the powers. Logan would have panicked, if it didn't seem too simple. She practically threw herself in front of their attacks. Everyone of them. Scooter's blasts. Storm's wind and lightening. John's fire-ball. Jubilee's sparks. Bobby's ice. Kitty managed to phase right through her. And finally Piotr managed to knock the wind out of her. She was lying on the ground right now. To others it may have looked like she was unconscious, but Logan knew that she was just fine. In fact he could practically smell the amusement from her. So he hung back and waited.
Obviously Hank couldn't just sit on the sidelines, when he thought there was a person in need of medical help. But as he began to rush towards her, he was stopped by Alex. "Hold on, Big Blue. The show is not over yet."
Bobby who was having a celebratory high-five with John, turned to face Alex and said, "What do mean it's not over yet? We took her out. She must really suck at being an assassin, if this was enough to take her out."
Alex just smiled at Bobby as if he was a five years old, who was talking about Santa. "No, Blow-Up Ken doll. It's not over yet. Because that's not how you win a war."
"Didn't know you were a fan of Sun Tzu."
"You don't win the war by getting the upper hand over your enemies." continued Alex as if he was not interrupted by Bobby.
"You win by letting your enemies think that they have the upper hand over you." said Marie while getting up and casually brushing off the imaginary dust on her suit.
And before anyone could blink, Rogue took down the X-Men. She fired optic blasts at Scooter, made Storm drenched to her bone, turned metal and punched Piotr to the other side of the room, created sparks all around Jubilee, put John in a ring of fire, phased Kitty through the floor and left her there, and finally covered Popsicle's entire body, from neck down, in ice.
She calmly walked in front of Bobby. "Now it's over. Hope that cleared up any doubts you had on mah assassinating abilities. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Ah'm breaking up with up you." She continued to smile. "That was awesome."
"What?" said Kitty, who was still stuck in the floor. "Serving our asses to us?" Marie walked up to her and helped her out. She clicked her fingers and everyone who was still trapped with their own powers was set free. "No. The awesome part was that Ah just had mah first break-up."
"You've never broken up with anyone?" asked Jubilee. "No. Simply 'cause Ah've never dated anyone. All Ah had were casual flings. Don't get me wrong, it was exactly what Ah wanted. But you can't have the satisfaction of dumping someone when you both know it's just about the sex."
Scooter walked up to Marie, with a very tight smile on his face. "Well, as much as we all would love to hear about your love life. Can you please tell me when did you steal our powers?"
Marie rolled her eyes and said, "Relax, Scott. Ah did not touch teenagers." Which send Alex into a laughing fit. "That was funny. Usually it's Wade who has to keep saying that."
"Yeah, that's true. Remember Bangkok." said Marie.
"Yes, I remember. He put the 'bang' in the Bangkok. Not to mention the 'kok'."
Storm, after helping Piotr to his feet, joined in. "If you didn't touch us how were you able to get our powers."
"That's simple." said Alex, who was now standing next to Marie. "Her mutation her two aspects - defensive and offensive. You guys are already familiar with the defensive aspect, that is when she touches someone to take their powers, memories, personality and life force. Now the offensive aspect is a bit more tricky and I can't explain that."
"As you all know by now, with last night's events, that there is a mental manifestation of mah mutation in mah head. Called Anna. Now with Carol Ah knew that Ah could absorb other mutant's powers by touching them. Ah could never take Wade's powers, because they weren't his natural powers. After getting control over mah skin, when Ah had become even more determined to kill Stryker and started to train to become an assassin, Ah started to hang around more mutants, for the simple reason so that Ah could get their powers.
"What Ah noticed after some time was that Ah don't need to touch them to get their powers. As long as Ah, or more specifically Anna, gets to see them use their powers, Ah can have them. Anna says it's like mind-hack, but not the same way a telepath would do it. It's much more subtle. Even the strong telepaths can't notice Anna enter their minds, specifically the area responsible for the powers, and copy the mutations, so to speak. Which is exactly what Ah did, right now."
"That's extraordinary." said Hank, who had been silent this entire time."Your mutation creates a data bank of all the powers it comes in contact with, physically or otherwise, and can use them as offensive. And it also has a defensive aspect as well. In a fight, you can touch your opponent and not only will you be able to get their powers but also in the meantime you get their memories and knowledge, to use their mutations flawlessly and also make them weak by taking their life force. That's the perfect mutation. We all saw it today. You can defeat any mutant by just using their own powers on them. And the more they use their powers in front of you, the more you'll be able to defeat them."
"Pretty much. Believe me, when Ah discovered Ah could do all that, what you just said, Ah understood why Stryker would want me. Though Ah'm not sure he knows about the offensive part of mah mutation."
"I'm pretty sure he doesn't." said Alex. "Cause if he did, he would be putting a lot more effort in capturing you. Like a hundred navy seals would be on your ass 24/7."
"So" came from a clearly mystified Fearless Leader. "In the three months you've lived here, in a mansion filled with mutants, you could've easily taken any-"
"Yes, Scott. Anna actually called it an 'all you can eat buffet'. Though Ah have to say that the mind-hack does not work for physical mutations. Otherwise Ah would've been blue thanks to Hank. Ah need to touch someone to take on the physical aspect of their mutation."
"But you can take their physical mutations as well." asked Storm.
"Yes, Ah can choose which physical mutation Ah want." For a briefest moment she looked towards Logan, but no one except him noticed it. "Like the teleporter Ah met in Germany last year. Ah didn't touch him, but Ah have his powers. Even if had touched him Ah would've been able to pick if Ah wanted his physical appearances as well. He was blue and had a tail." She stopped talking for a moment to think about something. "It's interesting how frequent the color blue comes up when you're talking complete physical mutation. Like Hank, Mystique and Kurt Wagner in Germany. Why does mutation loves blue so much? Anywho, thank you for the powers, everyone." With that she started to walk away. Logan was just about to stop her to talk to her when, John asked her how she was able to start a fire without a lighter.
"Yes, well, it's not that difficult." She walked in front of him and said, "Show me hands. Now start a flame with your lighter." He did as he was told. "Now make the flame small. Smaller. And smaller" He continued to make the flame smaller till it was nothing but a dot on his hands.
"This is the difficult part. You need to maintain this small flame all the time and whenever you need to use your powers you just have to enlarge this flame. It will be difficult to maintain it for long periods of time but if you practice enough pretty soon you'll be able to maintain multiple flames simultaneously. And even creates shapes, like dragons."
"How do you even know all this?" asked a clearly shocked John.
"That's another thing Anna can do. It's like when she has a mutation, she can dissect it and uncover all its secrets. Like Piotr, just like your external skin you can make skin lining on your organs into metal as well. And you should do that, as even though from the outside you may be fine but you could easily suffer from internal bleeding. Though it's weird walking around with metal organs.
"Jubilee can turn anything into sparks not just air. In fact if you concentrate enough you can create sparks right inside someone's eyeballs. Now Ah'm sure you all are wondering how was Kitty not able to unphase herself out of the floor. Ah have to admit Ah cheated with her. You see Kitty's powers make the molecules in her body loose, so then she is able to slip through the gaps in between the molecules of the wall or floor or even person. Ah released low frequency that put her molecules out of sync and thus she was stuck. But even you have a long way to go, Kit-Kat. Ah mean if you tried harder you can phase with many people at the same time and phase through fast moving objects. Or even non-solid things, like lightening or Cyclops's blasts."
"What about me?" asked a sheepish Bobby.
"You can use your ice to slide over, even in mid-air. You can cover your entire body into ice, which would make you somewhat resistant to blows and punches. Not to mention create ice objects that move. Like this." She raised her closed palms in front of them and when she opened it they all saw a tiny kitten ice sculpture. Not too shocking, just that it was actually moving around her palm.
"That's cool." said both Kitty and Jubilee.
"No, it would have been cool if Ah could make it say 'meow'." And just like that the kitten was gone. "Although don't push yourself, Bobby. If your mutation can't find enough water in the air, it will start using the water in your body and you will lose consciousness from dehydration."
"When did you discover all of these things about our mutation?" asked Piotr.
"In the three days before Ah had mah mental breakdown."
"Mental breakdown?" asked Logan. "Anna said it was a hissy fit."
"It was initially a hissy fit. But then Ah started eating the fake apple pie that mah mother had made and discussing what color dress mah Prom dress should be with Cody. So Ah think it's safe to it was a mental breakdown. Anywho, whose hungry?"
xXx
Dinner had ended and Logan wanted nothing to jump in his bed and go to sleep, considering he hadn't slept properly last night, with rescuing Anna and what not. That's why he was shocked to find Marie sitting on his bed, when he entered his room.
"How did you...? I mean ...no smell in the halls." He was quiet for a minute. "Right. Teleportation. I forgot. Did you want to talk about something?"
"Ah wanted to thank you for not telling anyone what the New Orleans thing to anyone. Hank can't because of the doctor-patient confidentiality, but...just thanks for not saying anything."
"I didn't have a choice, darling. Anna said she would use Magneto's powers to rip the metal from my body if I did." This send both of them in laughter. It was at that moment he noticed exactly how much he missed that sweet drawl of hers. Or more specifically it was at that moment he realized that Wolverine is right and he loves her and he would give almost anything to keep hearing her laugh. He was pretty sure he had a start-struck expression on his face, so tried to talk to distract her.
"So, what finally made you come out of your mental isolation?"
She lost the last trace of laughter and had an almost melancholy smile. "Anna. Her inner monologues were getting really..um... intense. It made me realize no matter how hurt Ah may be, Ah can't run away from all of this. Even if it mah fault."
"Is it the bait thing?"
"Not just that. Ah shouldn't have abandoned Wade for three months. Ah was so caught up in the illusion of being a normal teenager that... And now he's gone."
For a moment neither one spoke. "Were you really discussing dress colors in there?" He asked hoping to lighted the mood, and it earned him a small smile. "Yeah, Ah was. During the time Ah should have been at mah prom, Ah was chopping up corpses and throwing them in the sewers of Paris." She broke eye-contact with him and stared out the window before talking again. "This wasn't the life Ah wanted, Logan. But this is mah life. Destiny had warned me, but somehow Ah wished it was otherwise. So Ah've decided that Ah'm not going to run anymore."
He didn't know how to reply to that and even his usually sane-advice giving feral side was silent. "That's a good thing, darling."
She turned around to face him and he could see tears in her eyes, and it broke him even more. "But Ah don't know what to do? For the last five years, whenever Ah've been stuck or needed help, Ah went to Wade. He was mah constant. He is mah family. Mah one family is already dead because of me. Ah don't think Ah can handle if something will happen to Wade, because of me again."
Logan rushed to her side and enveloped her in his arms. "Wade had saved me over and over again. He has done so much for me. And Ah can't do anything for him. Ah couldn't even find out where he is last night. Ah pretend to be strong and Ah joke with everyone, but the truth is after losing Wade Ah've become the same scared 16 years old that Ah was five years ago. Lost and broken. Ah was so obsessed in being happy, just being normal that Ah may already have lost the most precious person in mah life."
He could feel jealousy rearing his head, but he quickly squashed it down, because right now Marie was more important than his petty issues. He knew that right now she just needed to get it all out of her system, so he stayed silent and held her.
"It's so difficult living with the pain and anger, that only thing you want is to run away. But even that doesn't help, 'cause they have already become a part of you. It feels like nothing can hold you on the ground, like any minute now you will fall in space and never come back. Ah always thought if Ah kill Stryker, then it will go away but what if it doesn't. Ah've been with the pain and anger for so long, what if they've already become a part of who Ah am, what if it never ends, Logan."
"Then it becomes a part of you and you learn to live with it. You may not like it, but you have to. You can't give it up. It's your bag of bricks, you can't hand it over to anyone. And the longer you live, the heavier it gets. Then one day you may meet someone, who has their own burden, but somehow you help each other and one way or another the burden becomes less and you both can simply live."
Marie was quiet for some time. Logan was afraid he may have said something wrong and he cursed himself for becoming so goddamn philosophical all of a sudden. She slowly raised her head to look into his eyes and then placed the softest kiss on his lips, as if it wasn't a kiss at all but a ghost of one. Like a distant memory.
Soon enough the kissed intensified and they both couldn't keep their hands off each other. Yet it was impossibly sweet. Both of them may have been experienced, but this something precious. Something warm and tender. And neither of them wanted to rush in and ruin that moment. Slowly, after their clothes were off, Logan laid her on the bed. Even though his feral side hated him for it, he stopped for the briefest moment and asked her with his eyes if she wanted this. He would never forgive himself, if somehow he was taking advantage of her emotional state. All his worries were proven baseless, when she placed another soft kiss on his lips. She wanted him, just as much as he wanted her. And for one night their burden was lessened.
xXx
When he woke up in the morning, he was shocked not to find Marie beside him. He may never admit it but he wanted to feel her scent and warmth first thing when he woke up, and for the rest of his life if he could do something about it.
But Marie was sitting at the windowsill wrapped in a sheet and looking at the rising sun. He joined her there and wrapped himself with her and the sheet. It was at that time that he noticed she was holding something in her palms.
"It's the bullet that Hank took out of me."
"Why did you keep it?"
"Not many people can work with adamantium. It's an important clue for finding Wade."
"Do you know someone who can do that?" He was upset over the fact that he may lose Marie, that until that moment he never thought to make connection between the bullet and his own skeleton.
"Stryker, of course."
"Of course." He stopped staring at the sun and looked at her face. "No, Marie."
"You don't even know what Ah'm planning."
"Of course I know what you are planning. You plan to go to Stryker, don't you? You can't."
"You can't tell me what to do, Logan."
"When your life is at stake, you can bet your perfect little ass that I can."
"You think mah ass is perfect."
"Don't get cute with me Marie. You are not going."
"Ah can't just let Wade die. He may be bait, but he is running out of time."
He didn't say anything for a moment. One thing was sure he was not letting Marie go to that sadistic scientist. But if Wade wasn't saved then who knows what stupid shit Marie may end up doing.
"I'll go."
"What? Why will you go to Stryker's base?"
"It's perfect. He expects you to come, but he doesn't know me. I'll go and check the area out and if I find Wade, I'll rescue him."
"How will you do that? You don't even know what he looks like?"
"I'm guessing he would be locked up and surrounded by a bunch of guards."
That earned him a smile. "Now who is getting cute? But seriously Logan, Ah don't think it's a good idea-"
"It's the best one we have. Listen I'm not going to let anything happen to you. And me going alone is better. What if Wade isn't even there? If I take the entire X-men with me, it will raise alarms at next place we try searching for Wade. Don't you see, it's that simple."
"But you don't know Stryker. It can get complicated. There are so many things you don't know yet."
"What do you mean?" He held her face in his hands and looked deep in her eyes. He could see the worry in them and that just boosted his ego.
"Ah want to tell you something about your past." Before he could ask, six bone claws were protruding out of her knuckles. "You had bone claws before, they just put the metal on them." He was speechless, too shocked to speak. He touched them lightly, before she put them away. "Ah was so stupid to ask that question. 'Does it hurt?' Of course it would hurt. You're pushing claws out of your skin." She said, while rubbing the already healed knuckles.
"But hang on, why would this complicate me going to Stryker?"
"Come on, Logan. There are only a handful of people on this planet who can work with adamantium. And Stryker is the best, who is obsessively fond of experimenting on mutants." She looked away for a minute, as if trying to gather strength to continue. "Weapon X was the first successful procedure of Stryker. He supposedly was a super healer, had feral tendencies and had an entirely adamantium skeleton. Now you see why Ah don't want you going to Stryker' base?"
"I'm Weapon X?"
"All clues point to that."
"Do you know anything else?"
"No. Nothing else. Wait, you're not still going, are you?"
"Marie, this just sealed the deal. We would be killing two birds with one stone. I find Wade and discover my past. Please don't stop me."
He kissed her, which she initially refused to join but shortly was returning in equal measure.
"Where is this bastard's base?"
"Up in Canada. It's at Alkali Lake."
xXx
Marie was standing near the gate, where she had just said her final farewell to Logan, whose figure was quickly becoming small as he put more and more distance between them.
She was soon joined by Alex, who asked, "So he's on his way to Alkali Lake?"
"If there is anything that Itsu and Kayla have taught us, is that James Howlett can't resist a damsel in distress."
"There were waterworks, I assume."
"Whole nine yards. 'Logan, help me. Logan, save me. Logan, Ah'm so lost and broken.' Like taking candy- no like putting the detonator in the hands of a baby."
"Because you don't win the war by getting the upper hand over your enemies."
"You win the war by making your enemies think that they have the upper hand over you. It's pretty obvious that Stryker is planning something. Otherwise why after four years of sitting with his thumbs up his ass, would he try to capture me again. He expects us to barge into one of his base and burn it to the ground. But what he doesn't expect is a blast from the past."
"A visit from his favorite pet. Weapon X. And even sending Logan to Alkali Lake doesn't change much, because on the surface it looks like the base has been abandoned."
"And the presence of water will screw up his sense of smell, so he wouldn't even think about looking underground."
"But just him coming to the seemingly abandoned base will raise enough flags for Stryker to rush into whatever he is planning."
"And if Ah know Stryker, he has planned something which will make this administration re-think the entire Mutant Registration Act."
"That is where the X-Men come in."
"Exactly, sugah. Xavier considers himself the unofficial ambassador for mutant kind. So he and his team would bend over backwards to stop that."
"In the meantime, we step in and kill the son of a bitch, avenging Carol and your family. But his death also becomes the unofficial trigger for the Human-Mutant war. But how will starting the war help us in rescuing Wade?"
Marie, who along with Alex, was walking back to mansion, stopped and turned to face him. "To save Wade we need allies, Alex. And the only way we can get them, is if we force everyone and not just mutants, into a corner by starting this war."
"Destiny always knew you would play an important role in the war."
"Yes. Irene wrote in her diaries about how she saw me and the tipping point of the war. That's why she send me to the D'Accantos, hoping that if Ah grew up away from the mutant world, Ah would be able to avoid all that. But as we all know,..."
"We can't change the cards that have been dealt to us."
"No, we can't."
They continued to walk in silence when Alex asked, "What will you do with Remy?"
"Ah thought that's obvious. Leave him."
He looked at her skeptically. "Just leave him?"
"Yes, Alex. Just leave. After the dust settles, all of you are free to beat the living shit out of him. But Ah don't think Ah would have the heart to do anything else."
"Wade would especially want to give him a few scars." When he didn't get a reply he continued. "I'm really sorry about Remy. I know how much you began to really care about-"
"It goes without saying that you can't say anything to Victor or anyone else, until we get Wade back. Saber-daddy has the subtlety of an earthquake measuring 10 on the Richter scale."
"You can't bottle it up, Marie. Talk to me."
"Ah will. Later. Right now, Ah need you to concentrate on this. Only this. Ah just got back from a mental breakdown, Alex. Don't push me. Please, just leave me alone for a while."
Alex walked away, leaving Marie in the middle of Xavier's driveway.
I was wrong.
'About what Carol?'
I thought you had changed somehow. You know, with talking to the X-Men and not to mention sleeping with Logan. Which was hot.
'It was part of the plan.'
Come on, Marie. Don't lie to me. And I'm not judging. In fact as a favor screw him once more. Not for you, but for me.
'Ah thought you loved Alex.'
I do. But even the love of my life does not have that ass. Anyway, after the whole Remy shit, you needed it.
'How is the head Logan reacting to me using the real him?'
Why don't you ask him yourself?
You can do anything you want with me, darling. Besides I know why you are doing everything. So believe me, the real me would also get over it after some time, when you tell him everything.
Satisfied that at least everything in her head was alright. Then her phone started to ring. When she looked at the caller id she smiled. She was expecting him.
"Hello, sister dear. How are you? I got your message."
"Hello, Graydon."