CHAPTER 10: Shake on it

The revelation that Wolverine could talk was equal parts comforting and troubling. She could communicate a little easier with the feral, though Marie just as quickly determined she would need to take things with a grain of salt.

As she fed Pollack a can of fancy feast from the bag Wolverine had shown her, (she would need to thank Victor at some point for his cat sitting skills) Marie tried to come up with some sort of plan for what was to come.

The Wolverine wasn't stupid as some believed him to be, nor was he all caveman grunts and hard-headed demands. If anything, he was openly intelligent, something Logan had always done his best to hide. Really, everything about him was an open book. When he wanted sex, he made his intents clear without hesitation and hungry every time. When she was upset, he didn't always have the words but he was quick to soothe, to rock and comfort until she was well again.

If he was hungry, they needed to eat. When he was tired, he slept and nightmares pissed him off instead of causing him to withdraw. All this, she had come to know before he'd been taken.

Now, there was only one topic they had yet to touch on. If Wolverine was out and running the show, where was Logan? He'd always taken the lead, and now there wasn't so much as a glimpse of his eyes. Her mate's gaze had been golden since they'd rescued him.

Marie worried at her lip, filling a small bowl with water while she tried to gather her thoughts. The pair had always shared the body, Logan had once told her a little bit about how it worked.

-Flashback-

"S'like how you have your voices cooped up inside here." He tapped his temple and she thought about this while her feet dangled over the side of the truck bed. They were in the back of the pick-up, had stopped for dinner and were now eating pieces of pie on an old dead end road, star gazing.

"Yah said yah let him out for fights." She reminded him.

"Fights, fucking on occasion. We got enough shit in our head, he's the one who puts up the walls for us. But he knows I'm in the driver's seat, it's better that way. Don't your people talk too?"

She'd shrugged and tried another bite of pie, wondering if she was imagining the way his eyes watched her mouth every now and then.

"Ah put em away. Only keep yah out, and Wolvie. Yah both are always trying tah help meh." She smiled and watched him smile at the night sky. So many stars and just the two of them to take it all in.

"Nothin we wouldn't do for you kid." He promised, meeting her eyes suddenly. Her heart picked up speed. "He and I, we don't always get along so well. S'like when a voice gets too loud and gives you a headache, you can't think straight right?"

Marie nodded. "Ah just wanna curl away in the back of mah head."

"It's sort of the same way with us. One of us is always watching the other when they're out but sometimes we're pushed down to be quiet. Usually, I keep him down since he tends to wanna pull stupid shit but sometimes he does the same to me when he thinks he knows better."

"How come yah can't just work together?"

Logan had scowled than. It was a long moment of watching the stars and wondering if she'd gone too far before he answered;

"It's never worked like that kid. Because if one of us goes too far, the other might not come back. And I'm not trying to find out who would win that contest."

She was snapped out of her memory by insistent little headbutts from Pollack, who charged for her water bowl as soon as Marie put it down.

"Is that what happened Lo? Yah lost?" She wondered aloud. Of course, there was no response from him. But then, there was no reply from Wolverine either. He'd been awfully quiet, maybe he was sulking because she'd left him in their room? Leaving behind Pollack to drink her water, Marie jogged upstairs.

"Wolvie? Wolverine ah wanna ask yah something." Their bedroom was empty though, the blanket she'd requested for Pollack hastily tossed aside. "Wolverine? Sugah where are yah?" There was no sign of him in the ensuite, nor in the office or even the spare bedroom.

Fighting down her mounting panic, she went back downstairs and checked the living room. Pollack meowed lazily from Logan's recliner, curled in a kitty ball of content.

"Mate!"

Wolverine didn't sound as though he were in distress but that didn't stop Marie from running for the front door. She yanked it open, skin humming at attention before her mouth dropped.

Her mate's hands were stained sticky red, claws still out as he grinned at her. At her feet were three dead ducks, a heap of dandelions with roots and all and a pile of wild strawberries. Pollack peeked out from behind her leg, padding outside and sniffing at the birds. She tried for a polite thank you, or perhaps a curious nudge of her foot but neither action came to fruition.

"Got our dinner Marie-Mate. Even brought some leafy shift for you!" He smirked down at their pet. "Like to see this mangy pest do that." Still smiling he looked up at her, head tilting and shoulders drooping a fraction.

"M'rie? We hunted for you." His bushy brows furrowed at her continued silence. "Know it's nothing big but I wasn't going to leave you in the open for too long. I can probably bring down a few deer next time-ungh!" The air went up out of his body as she strode over and hugged him hard, letting out a breath of relief herself.

"Ah thought-ah couldn't find yah and ah thought-" She was certain his feral ears could hear the hammering thud of her heartbeat, the muscle ready to crack through her chest. To her dismay, tears leaked out of her eyes, even while she struggled to steady her emotions.

Concerned, he brought his hand up to her face, shockingly warm and the blood leaving a handprint on her cheek. And had it been anyone else, they might have been terrified, to see how his claws cradled her and the glint of adamantium gleaming among her brunette hair.

"Home. M'home." He muttered. She nodded, still crying and sagged against him, arms around his neck and weeping into his chest, not noticing when the claws when back in. His own hands went around her waist, pressing her to him, their evening meal laying forgotten on the porch around them.

"We need to set some ground rules," Marie announced, later on, plucking and cleaning the dandelions at the kitchen table. Two of the ducks were roasting in the oven, the strawberries had been washed and tucked away into the fridge.

Her mate was pacing restlessly, keeping watch at the window as he waited for supper to be ready. Her earlier upset seemed to have left him feeling guilty, he'd insisted on cleaning the birds and pulling out pans, following her directions without dispute. He came to the table now, taking a seat at her side and hand pulling her fingers over to lace through his.

"Rules." He repeated. She nodded back, nibbling on a green.

"Earlier, when ah was crying? And when the shower upset yah the other night. Ah think we have tah figure out a way to avoid instances like those." She sighed. "Or least how to handle the situations that cause them. Ah've got a headache from crying and yah not acting like yourself. Maybe, if we have some ground rules we can get through this together, instead of just reacting after the fact."

His eyes fell down to her fingers, small in his own. Her hands were trembling he realized.

"If you mean telling you what went on… when those bastards had us." His grip got just a little tighter. "S'not happening darlin'."

She sighed softly. "Yah don't have to tell meh everything. And ah won't make yah talk. But ah just thought, if ah had any idea of what went on maybe ah would know what not tah do." She answered earnestly, holding his hand to her heart. He smiled coldly.

"You've got some of our other nightmares already. Aren't they enough for you?" He pulled away, flexed his hand as though her touch burned. Maybe it did. Maybe things were too much right now. Her worry increased.

"Okay, so don't tell meh." She hedged. "But ah don't think it's too much tah ask yah let meh know when yah going out and where yah headed. Ah can do that same."

He nodded slowly."I can do that."

She smiled brightly, glad they were getting somewhere.

"And we won't take any baths, we can take nice gentle showers. Is that okay?" She added. He nodded again, eyes slanting to the window and then back to her.

"You can do something for me, that's how this works ain't it? Give and take?" He murmured. There was a dangerous gleam in his gaze, one that stayed when he looked out the window and then back to her.

"Of course." She didn't hesitate, there was nothing she wouldn't do for him. But he shifted in his chair, the set of his jaw firm and his fingers beginning to drum out a staccato.

"Keep to the den marie-mate. Don't go out in the open."

She smiled, not understanding his unease. "Wolvie, ah just said we would always tell each other where we're going-"

"Don't go anywhere."

She blinked. "What?"

"Keep here in our den." He repeated. "Or your flowers and things by the house. I need to go over our territory, see that all is you can go farther." He decided, nodding to himself. Her worry was returning, he wasn't seriously going to keep her here was he?

"Wolverine, yah still need to check in with Dr. McCoy and ah eventually will need tah go shopping, we don't have half the things we need in the house raght now-"

He shook his head, rising to look out the window, leaning against the wall. "Hunting will fill our bellies, there's plenty to catch. We have water, light and your cleaning things. My healing. We don't need to go anywhere right now."

"But sugah we-"

"No Marie. This is the safest way. You said you would do this for us. For your pack alpha." He growled, hating to have to be firm with his little mate but knowing it was in her best interests. He watched her emotions war across her pretty features, the way her body stiffened and she hugged herself to calm her ire. After another long moment, she nodded.

"For how long?" She finally asked. He thought it over and one shoulder lifted.

"As long as it takes to go over our territory. Once I'm certain there are no threats, then we can talk about this again." He promised. Still hugging her bare arms, she smiled wanly. Her scent was unhappy but there was a new understanding there and he was satisfied.

"Thank you." He leaned over, kissing her deeply and savoring the taste of her, the breathless whisper for him and the way her eyes remained closed, just for a moment after he released her.

"I'll start right now. Get some done while our supper is made." He offered. She smiled, eyes a little brighter. He'd pleased her with the compromise.

"Ah'll call fah yah when it's ready. Listen close fah meh." He rose, accepting another affectionate peck as he headed out the door.

"We always hear you." He smiled at her and carefully closed the door behind him. This time it was Marie who went to the window, watching him run until her eyes could no longer see the small dot fading away in the distance.

Then she went to their bedroom, where her phone was hidden in one of the ensuite's cabinets made especially for her makeup. Logan never went there, he wasn't going to "mess with her face paints."

And she called Victor.