I finally convinced Logan to let me see him fight, although I had to agree to a lot of rules to do it. But the best part was that I got to see Wolverine, even if only in the cage and for a few seconds afterward. He looked just as beautiful and strong as I remembered, and I knew sometimes he showed off for me. He always looked for me in the crowd, and he always fought harder when I cheered for him. And after the match was over, he'd come straight back to me. Sometimes he would leave another light bite mark on my neck and sometimes it would just be a firm nuzzle. I think he liked that everyone saw when he did it. I kind of did.
That was the only time Logan let him out though. I wanted more, to be able to talk to him and snuggle with him the way I did with Logan, but I decided not to press too hard for now. Wolvie must have thought the same, because it seemed like he and Logan fought a lot less. Logan didn't frown and space out as much, and it didn't seem like a struggle every time he took back control after the matches. It wasn't exactly what I wanted, but I thought it was a good sign that they'd apparently managed to work out some sort of compromise at least. Baby steps.
Tonight, Wolvie had left another mark. It didn't hurt, just stung a little. And I knew how much he liked showing people we were pack-mates and belonged together, so I didn't mind. If he didn't heal so quickly and I wasn't so shy, I'd probably be tempted to mark him back. Logan took over right after, and he drank Molson's from the bottle while I sipped my glass of water. I wasn't really thirsty, I just liked having something to do with my hands so I didn't feel so awkward.
I loved watching Logan fight, but even I had to admit to myself that bars weren't really places I felt comfortable in. Logan stayed right next to me the entire time he wasn't in the cage though, and he always kept an arm around my side so I felt safe. He talked to a few of the other patrons, as much as Logan talks at least, and glanced at the TV above the counter to check the score of a hockey game every now and then. He had one more match, and then he'd promised to head back to the hotel with me to watch a late night showing of Die Hard. I'd insisted on it because I'd never gotten to watch R rated action movies before, and the first one was back when Bruce Willis still had hair. Not that he wasn't still pretty yummy, but I wanted to start at the beginning. And I figured that with all the action and fighting, Logan might even like it a little too. It looked like the night was going to turn out perfectly too, until some big boobed tramp tried to mess it all up.
She walked right up to us and stopped in front of Logan with a flirty smile. "Hey, champ. You gonna ignore us all night? We're real big...fans."
Some other girls made catcalls at him from a nearby table, one of them flipping her perfect platinum blond hair to the side and winking suggestively. I couldn't understand how she did such a flawless hair flip. The last time I tried practicing doing those hair flips, I made my neck so sore I couldn't turn my head for a week.
"Fuck off, April. I'm busy." Logan growled, his voice cutting through my envy.
She crossed her arms and glared at him. "It's May."
Logan just shrugged and took another swig before he answered. "Close enough."
"Only for you, champ." She said with a pouty sigh. "And don't worry, I'm sure you can find a babysitter for the night."
"He's not mah dad." I cut in, just to clarify.
"Oh? Guess you're just friends then, huh?" She sneered at me.
I took another sip of water and tried to take the high road too while I was at it. But little miss May-flower just had to keep going.
"'Cause the last time he was here, we got to be real good friends." She purred with a smirk.
And I took the nearest exit off the high road. "Just because a man lets yah touch his dick, it doesn't mean yeh friends...don't yah think yeh a little old not to know that?"
Heh. Ya could've jest called her a cunt.
The truth hurts more.
"—little young to be touching his dick?" May-flower was saying. "He needs a real woman, not some cabbage patch kid. We've fucked in ways you can't even imagine, so—"
Logan cut her off by standing up with a growl. I tried to pull him back down, but he just shrugged my hand off and placed himself between the two of us.
"Don't think I won't hit ya jest 'cause ya got a cunt." He growled, getting in her face.
"No, yeh not gonna hit her 'cause she's smaller than yah, an' yah could literally break her entire face, an' she doesn't deserve that. So sit down." I ordered, pulling on his arm again and using my best bad man-puppy, bad voice.
Logan leaned back against the bar counter, but he didn't sit down again. At least he was out of her face. She really was a cunt, but I knew how much it hurt to get smacked around by someone bigger than you, and it made my stomach hurt to think of Logan in that way. Wolvie made soothing noises in my head, and I calmed down enough to turn back to May. She needed to go, but I refused to sink to her white trash level and just yell at her. And like I'd told Wolvie, the truth hurts more.
"Yah wanna fuck him?" I paused and looked her in the eye. "Fah-ne. It ain't none of mah business who he sticks his dick in, an' who knows? Yah might get his pants down yet. But the difference between yah and meh? He takes his boots off when he's with meh."
"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" She demanded, completely missing the point.
"Go find a man who'll actually remember yah name an' treat yah with the respect yah deserve, an' maybe then yah'll find out." I answered.
She might be acting pretty awful right now, but men made women crazy, especially men like Logan. I wasn't exactly being all nice and sugar and spice right now either, so I tried not to resent her too badly. Everyone deserved to find someone who would love and respect them, even trashy fight groupies.
"Fuck you!" She shouted back.
But then again, whatever. I wasn't her mother or her father or whoever it was that had screwed up her self esteem. She wasn't my problem to fix, and right now she just needed to get away from my Logan. She glared at me like she was waiting for me to scream back at her, but I was a lady, and she could go fuck herself. After a few seconds she got too flustered and looked away, then finally stormed off in a cloud of daddy issues. Logan tightened his arm around me and leaned closer.
"Ya alright, kid?" He asked.
I just nodded and took another drink.
"I ain't gonna fuck her." He said.
I stared at my glass. "Not mah business."
"Thought you said my business was your business, and I should start telling you shit." He said, raising an eyebrow.
"There is such thing as too much information, Logan. An' Ah really don't need to know about yeh choice of..." I fumbled for a word. "...bed partners."
He smirked and nudged me. "Bed partners?"
"Whatever. Yah know what Ah mean. An' if yah wanna come back after yah drop meh off at the hotel—"
"Hey." He brushed his knuckles under my chin and lifted my head up. "I ain't gonna be fuckin' anyone. You wanted to watch that movie, remember?"
"Yeah, but it's jus' a stupid movie an'—"
Logan cut me off. "And nothing. You said we were best friends, right?"
I smiled softly and gave him another nod.
"We're pack-mates, and you come first. Always, kid." He said, waiting for another nod. "Good. I got another match coming up, and we'll get outta here after that. You gonna be okay 'til then?"
"Yeah."
He stroked my hair, then turned and called to the bar tender. "Hey, Joe! Keep an eye on her. And you..."
"Ah'll wait rah-ght here. Ah won't go anywhere else, Ah won't speak to anyone, an' Ah'll yell if Ah need yah." I said, repeating the rules back to him like I always did.
"Good girl. Kiss for luck?" He grinned and leaned back down.
I blushed again and quickly kissed his cheek. His facial hair felt rough against my lips. He pulled back and ruffled my hair, then walked off. The crowd moved aside for him as he climbed into the cage with the winner of the last match. He shot me a cocky grin and wink, his eyes turning golden as Wolverine took more control. I smiled back and tried not to cringe when he took a punch to the face. He always let his opponents play a little and think they had a chance. I guess it wouldn't be quite as exciting if he went in and ended each match in under a minute, which I knew he was capable of doing.
He let the other guy get his punches in and toyed with a few hits of his own. I'd learned not to start cheering until he was ready to win. He just couldn't seem to help himself once I started screaming, and I'd accidentally set him off and ended a couple of matches early. After a few minutes though, I saw the change in the way he held himself and knew he'd start beating the guy down. The next time the guy threw a punch, he knocked his arm away and punched him back for real. I took a deep breath.
"Hey, bitch!"
I turned toward the voice just in time to get slapped off my stool. I hit the ground hard, but managed to land mostly on my knees and forearms. I pushed up on my hands and knees, but someone kicked me hard in the side before I could get up. I rolled with the kick the best I could and looked up to see who was attacking me. May raised a foot to stomp on my chest.
Bring the bitch down to yer level!
I reached out and grabbed her other boot, yanking her foot out from under her. Her eyes widened almost comically as she fell back, arms and legs flailing wildly.
Get on top!
I cringed away. My first instinct was to run before she could get back up, but Wolvie shouted in my head for me to attack instead.
"You...ugly little...bitch." She groaned, sitting up.
"Don't start this with me." I warned her.
She lurched up onto her knees, and we both crouched on the floor of the bar, eyeing each other. She made the first move, getting a foot beneath her and lunging at me. I reached blindly behind me, grabbed the first thing I got my hand wrapped around, and swung it around at her as I stood up. The bar stool slammed into her side. I felt the wood splinter in my hand, and she smacked against the counter. The entire crowd went silent. I looked up and saw the people had formed a half circle around us.
May got to her feet, but she staggered back around the counter, and I assumed she was running away. I looked back to the cage and locked eyes with Wolverine. His widened and he roared, just as I heard a chh-chh from behind me. My mind didn't register what the sound was, but my Wolvie did, and he screamed at me to get down. I immediately dropped to the ground, and a second roar sounded behind me. Someone in the crowd screamed, and then everyone panicked and tried to run in every direction. People were shoving and shouting, and I stayed huddled in a ball with my back pressed against the counter as I tried not to get trampled.
I heard a snarl and looked up to see Wolverine push his way through the crowd, claws already out. I heard the sound again and craned my head up. The barrel of a shotgun pointed over the counter, and claws sliced through the air and metal both. Pieces of the barrel fell down around me, but the gun still kicked. When I looked at Wolverine next, he was stumbling back with lead sprayed across his chest.
Something snapped inside me, and I stood up before she could reload. May raised the now sawed off shotgun again, but I jumped over the counter and crashed into her. We both went down, and I landed on top with the gun wedged between us.
The gun!
Wolvie snarled something about disarming her, but I didn't know how to do the move that was second nature to him. I just wrenched it out of her hands instead and smashed the butt of it into her stomach instead. I didn't know what to do with the gun either, so I tossed it aside after that and got to my feet, dragging May up with me by her hair. She screamed and tried to grab my hands, so I slammed her face into the edge of the counter.
Then I did it again.
And again.
I didn't even know I was screaming until I let go of her, and the only sound in the bar was the thump when she hit the ground and the echo of my voice. Wolverine stared at me, slack jawed. I tried to smile at him to let him know I was okay, but it came out more like a grimace, only showing off my teeth the way he did when he tried to smile. I turned to look over at Joe next, who flinched and offered me something with shaking hands. My eyes flickered down to the envelope, and I realized it was the jackpot for tonight's winner. I shook my head.
"Keep it for repairs." I told him, then raised my voice. "And someone call an ambulance for whoever else got shot."
I stepped over May and started to make my out from behind the bar, but I caught a glimpse a bottle of Jack Daniels. I grabbed it, turned back to Joe, and held it up. He nodded rapidly, and I smiled at him. He flinched again, and I decided no more smiling for the rest of the night. I took the bottle with me as I walked around the counter. I figured Wolverine would probably have the same taste in alcohol as Logan, and whoever it was that got control while I pulled out all the lead shot in his chest was definitely going to need it. Wolverine wrapped his arm around my waist the instant I got close enough, and he guided me past all the other cowering customers as we walked out the bar.
A/N: Wow, yeah...so...short chapter. BUT the last one was super long, so if you think about it, they even out. Please don't be angry, have a chocolate drizzled Logan...or maybe a chocolate drizzled Wolverine, if that's your thing...
Actually, I have a question about that. The next chapter starts off at the hotel with an injured and pissed off man-puppy. So who do you want to have gotten control on the car ride over? Do you want to see more of Wolvie or would you rather have Logan back? I can write in some more fluffy WolviexMarie moments, or I can just skip over that and get straight to the Logan part. He really is the main character, so I don't want you guys to feel like Wolverine is completely taking over. But if you do want a bit more of him, vote for Wolvie. If you want to get back to Logan, vote for him.
Cast your votes with reviews of course!
Coming up next: Marie has to deal with a pissed off, overprotective man-puppy and try to get it through both their heads that they can't protect her from everything...