Ello there! So this chapter is when Amara finally tells her story. It's kind of long, and if backstories are not your thing, then I apologize. I figured we got Fr enough into the story for me to force myself to come up with a past that would make sense. Be prepared for some feels. Review and Enjoy!

Logan

"Hi."

Logan twisted his neck towards the med bay doors. He grimaced for a second as his body protested to the quick movement, but then smiled when he saw who it was.

"Hi."

Amara was only a few steps into the room, and, well to put it bluntly, she looked like shit. Her hair had loss its bounce and shine, instead looking rough and in different angles around her head. The bags under her eyes were a dark purple, speaking volumes on how much sleep she has gotten in the past few days. But it wasn't her hair or the bags that dismayed Logan, it was her overall being. Her posture was slouched, and it seemed as if all she wanted was to curl into herself. She kept a steady gaze at the floor, not even glancing up as the silence in the room lengthened. She was broken. Guilty. And Logan hated it.

"C'mere."

She shuffled her feet hesitantly towards his cot, stopping a few feet away. Logan's patience, between the pain, being confined to bed, and Amara's behavior, was officially done.

"Would ya move ya ass? Dammit woman I'm not gonna hurt ya!"

Amara had been in the process of moving closer when Logan's last remark stopped her in her tracks. Her gaze slowly lifted up to peer at him, and that's when Logan got the full force of everything- her tortured expression captured his and it took him a few seconds to continue breathing. He opened his mouth to say something, anything to make her stop, to make her see, but nothing was coming out. Her gaze shifted from his eyes to the bandages and bruises along his face and moved downward, taking in all of the damage his body sustained. The further down she got, the more self- hate and anguish he felt coming off of her, and he had to make it stop.

"Don't."

Amara's attention snapped back to Logan's eyes, her expression dead.

"Don't do this to yerself."

She took a shuddering breath and replied, "I know I just- I can't help it. Your injuries-"

"Are healin'. I'm fine, Amara."

Her eyes searched his, probing for any signs of deception and hurt, anger towards her, maybe even a little hate, but Logan knew she found none. Instead he hoped his eyes portrayed all the forgiveness and understanding he felt, the less words he had to use the better.

"Listen Amara-"

"I owe you an explanation."

Logan stopped and looked at her questioningly.

"Ya don't owe nobody nothin'. Least of all meh."

She shook her head fervently. "Not true. What I fucking did to you- "her voice broke and she paused. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down, then continued, "What happened only happened because I was weak-"

"That's bullshit-"

"Please let me finish-"

"I'm just sayin'-"

"For fuck's sake Logan can you please just shut the fuck up and let me get this shit out?!"

Logan was taken aback at her outburst, but only for a second. He smirked and made an over-exaggerating motioning with his hand. She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. His smirk widened to a full grin. That's the Amara he remembered.

"What I was trying to say before you added your two cents-" She glared at him and then sighed, the spark he was happy to see started dissipating all too quickly, and the broken woman came back full force. "I was weak. I thought holding onto the past, onto everything that happened in my life, with you, with the prison- I thought it would make me stronger. Living in that hell-hole? Only the toughest survive and come out unscathed, both physically and psychologically. Or so I thought. I'm broken, Logan. Damaged past repair."

"Nothin' a little elbow grease can't fix."

She flashed a quick smirk and continued. "Holding onto my pain, harboring it? Only made it worse. I let it build up, and when I saw you, back in the forest, it kind of exploded. At first I was so grateful that Ororo had been there, that she was able to stop me. I thought I could be okay, that I could let it go. I mean you fucking saved my life! I tried to sweep it under the rug, forget about it. But I couldn't. You remember when I first got here, when I had that nightmare?"

"Ya mean when ya froze Hank's room, caused an earthquake, and threw Emma across the room?"

Amara snorted and nodded. "Well that wasn't exactly just a nightmare, you know caused by the trauma from that military asshole. That was a memory. Caused by… caused by seeing you."

Logan's eyebrows shot up in surprise and went to say something before Amara put her hand.

"I'm going to tell you what happened. I am going to tell you everything about me. Everything. I need to do this, I need to let go. And I need you to just fucking listen, okay? I need to get this out."

He clamped his mouth shut and looked at her expectantly.

She sighed loudly and sat down in the seat Ororo had sat in a few hours before.

"Okay, here we go. My mother was from here, well, not exactly here but she was from the States. Her name was Keira. She was in college, studying to become a doctor. My father used to tell me she was the most intelligent and compassionate person he's ever met."

She smiled sadly and stared at the ground for a few beats before resuming. "In her third year she went to Cairo to study abroad, and that's where she met my father. His name was Amaneth, he was an Egyptian soldier before he was shot. He was actually the first patient she ever operated on. She saved his life. Then you know, the whole fell in love mess happened, they got married, my mom graduated and stayed in Cairo to start her own practice. My father opened his own restaurant. Life was good, you know?"

Amara stopped and glanced up at Logan. He nodded and gestured for her to keep going. She took a steadying breath and said, "I never got to know my mother, she died during childbirth. My father also told me that his brother and his family had died recently from a fatal plane crash, and he couldn't handle it. He lost the restaurant and so we were thrown onto the streets. We moved around a lot, only had each other and that's all we needed. Those were some of the saddest yet happiest days of my life. Everything was great, until my fifth birthday."

"What happened on yer birthday?"

"You and your people happened."

Logan closed his eyes, bracing himself for what Amara was about to say.

"We were squatting in these ruins on the outskirts of town, only there for maybe a few hours before the welcome wagon showed up. You weren't a part of it. My father had just returned from pinching me a birthday apple when they walked in. He thought they were police and tried to explain the situation. But then, they said our names. The main guy said his name was William Stryker, and he was very interested in what we could do. I had no idea what he was talking about. But I remember looking at my father… He was terrified. He quickly got up and said they had the wrong people, wrong information. Stryker just looked at him for a second then laughed. He replied, 'Of course we do. So sorry about that.' He turned to leave, then in comes your brother. Victor Creed. Grabbed me from behind, wouldn't let go. My father moved to fight him but Victor, he was such a conniving bastard. He- his nails became long and- and I remember him holding them to my throat-" Her hand absent-mindedly rubbed her neck. Her gaze shifted back to the floor.

"Threatened to slit my throat right then and there. Stryker said no, that they did not come to kill anyone, I thought he was stopping Victor. I will always remember the look he had on his face, that evil grin he had when he said, 'But we're not above other forms of persuasion.'" She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself, trying to provide warmth and comfort. Amara looked up when she heard a low growl coming from the cot in front of her. Logan was trying really, really hard to listen to her story without wanting to gut something, but it was fucking hard. Just the thought of what that piece of shit Stryker could have meant by that… His fists clenched and he forced himself to take deep, calming breaths, glad Amara noticed his state and decided to stop until he could calm himself down.

When he finally got a handle on his emotions, he unclenched his fists and sighed.

"Sorry."

"It's okay, it's a tough story to fucking hear."

"Tougher to share I'm guessin'?"

Amara stared at him for a moment before nodding slightly. "Like pulling teeth, but it has to be done."

He sighed and reached over to her arms, pausing only to silently ask for permission. Amara nodded and he gently grasped her hand and brought it over to the cot. He squeezed it quickly and smiled softly at her, signaling her to continue.

"So, they asked my father if he would come with them. He said no. Then fucking Freddy Kruger took a swipe at my chest. I just remember this flash of pure agony, red soaking my clothes, and my father's scream. But I didn't hear mine. I- I didn't even make a sound. I was so fucking scared and confused and mad- it made me numb. I distantly remember hearing Stryker ask my father if he would come with them again. This time he said yes. Then they put his hands in these shackles, and dragged him out, the last thing I remember from then is him screaming my name before I passed out. I didn't know that would be the last time I saw him, complete, whole. Woke up in a cell, ankle shackled to the wall, and you staring at me through the grates."

Logan winced and asked, "What- what did I do ta ya?"

Amara sighed and placed her other hand over Logan's. "You were nice."

"What?"

Amara's eyes filled with tears. "You were nice. Kind. Compassionate. You visited me three times every day. You talked to me about everything and anything. Brought me books to read to keep me busy, even played cardscwith me whenever you got a chance. You used to get so mad at me when I'd beat you at poker. I never lost. Never could figure out how I did it." She laughed at the fond memory.

He chuckled and replied, "Side note, how did ya do it? Ya don't strike me as a hardcore poker player."

She smiled wistfully and answered, "Nah, not so good at poker, but great at cons and I have fast hands."

"Ya cheated?"

She laughed and nodded.

"Figures."

As the laughter faded, Logan could see the sadness return across her features. It was heart breaking. "Listen, darlin' ya don't need ta-"

"Yes I do." She gave him a stern look before looking down at their hands, tears welling in her eyes. Almost subconsciously Logan had been tracing circles around her knuckles, sometimes following the patterns her tattoos presented, other times doing his own thing.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean ta upset ya-" His hand stopped and began retracting to his side of the bed before her hand grasped his harder.

"No. It's just that- Stryker was not keeping my father there for a friendly visit, the bastard was experimenting on him. Apparently my grandfather was a mutant, a very powerful one at that, but my father did not inherit any mutant abilities. Stryker didn't understand it, so he, um, he…" Her voice trailed off.

"Experimented on him." Logan finished for her. She nodded.

"You would always come in when they did, try to comfort me. You used to trace my knuckles just like how you are now." She smiled sadly. "It always worked to calm me down. I could bear my father's screams and pleas because you were always there for me. You told me you would always protect me, that you would save my father, that you'd get us out of there and to safety. Then, everything changed. I heard footsteps coming towards my cell one night, I remember being excited thinking it was you. I think I had just read a story I wanted to tell you about. Then my door opened, and it wasn't you. It was Stryker."

Logan fists involuntarily clenched again and he bared his teeth.

"He told me my father gave them everything they needed, that they would be disposing of him soon, and that I was next." A few tears escaped her eyes and Logan used his thumb to gently rub them away.

"I wasn't scared, I had you, and you would protect me. They took me to a room and chained me to the wall. There were so many people there, all looking at me, watching me. Taking notes and probing me… It was fucking horrible. But then I saw you, and I knew it'd all be okay. You were yelling something I couldn't make out, but then Stryker leaned in and whispered something to you, and you stopped. All I remember is you staring at him for a second, then looking at me. You turned around and followed Stryker out of the room. Soon everyone left and the lights were dimmed. Then I saw a spark and something set ablaze. It was- it was my dad. I was so scared and I hated hearing him screaming and the smell was horrendous… It was too much. I cracked. All I remember is thinking of how hot he must be, how I needed to cool him down-"

"Tha nightmare?"

"Yes. I froze everything in that room, but it was too late. He was gone." One sob escaped her lips before she tried to contain it and finish her story. "But I couldn't stop. The past few months hit me all at once, and I saw Stryker's face leering down at me, and I just lost it. I'm told it was the biggest hurricane in Africa's history. I don't remember. The only thing I do? Your face. When you looked at me, you had tears in your eyes, Logan. Logan you knew. You knew what they were going to do, and you left! You fucking left-"

Finally the walls broke down, and Amara collapsed against the cart, crying for her father, for herself, for just about everything. Logan had long ago stopped fighting the tears. They flowed freely from his eyes as he ignored the pain and grabbed Amara into a tight hug. He held her shuddering form as tight as he could, rubbing circles on her back and whispering as many sorrys as he could, praying to God one of them would mean it, would convey everything he was feeling.

After about a half an hour, Amara's sobs had all but diminished to sniffling. She lightly disengaged herself from Logan and smiled apologetically.

"You may want to get Hank to give you some new threads. I may have got some snot on them."

"Then I'll tell him to burn 'em."

She chuckled and wiped her eyes.

"Logan?"

"Yeah?"

"I forgive you and I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry and I forgive ya."

They both just stared at each other, smiling brightly until the med doors burst open and an agitated Emma burst in. She was soaked head to toe and was obviously seething.

"I would appreciate it Amara if you would cease with your emotional outbursts. Today's forecast was supposed to be sunny. Look at my chinchilla coat! It's ruined! You will be buying me another." And with that she stormed out, leaving puddles of water and followed by both Logan's and Amara's guffaws.