April 14th, 1912
9: 56pm
Something was wrong... Something was very, very wrong...
So wrong that Marie was only certain about one thing: She was going insane.
It was true, there were no doubts there that she was insane. Insane like her stepmother perhaps. No other reason could explain what she was experiencing, what was going through her head. And being carried in a sack over some extremely stinky guy's shoulder gave her a lot of time to think on the subject of insanity.
God... she hoped Logan was alright. Some big, hairy, and quite beastly looking man had interrupted their wonderful kiss and punched Logan with such force in the head. She had screamed as she saw her lover fall unconscious into the water before a sack was placed over her by someone behind and she was being carried through the ship. Her silence was only kept because they told her they would go back and make sure Logan was dead if she didn't do what they said.
Then there was that annoying part of her brain that was growling and snapping things at her, trying to get her to fight back despite what they told her. It didn't make sense, nor the memories that fluttered into her mind during the searing kiss with Logan. It was like she knew what he was thinking, feeling at that moment too. Not to mention a few flashes of fighting in bars, stalking some wild animal, or other things that she should have no memory of because she'd never done them.
It didn't make any sense and it was slowly driving her crazy.
She whimpered softly in the bag, unsure of what to do. More than anything, she wanted to keep Logan safe. But that small part of her brain that acted so much like him didn't want that. He wanted her safe, he wanted her to fight.
New memories came to surface. Memories that had occurred on the ship. He was talking to Xavier and that red haired lady, the one Marie had always seen with her husband with the red sunglasses.
Xavier smiled. "You will, Logan. You will. I know that Erik has plans for her, but I've still yet to determine exactly what they are. From what Jean has told me, there are other things. When your double assaulted Marie, he never touched her skin to skin. That, along with the fact that her parents never let her touch another human being arouses some interesting questions."
Her skin? Why the hell would anyone be talking about her skin? And Erik... Erik Lensherr, the man that always sat with her family. The man filled with pain yet determination, and not all of it good.
She and Logan had kissed and nothing had--
"Oh, shit..." she murmured, her eyes widening at her choice of words that she never would have used before.
"Shut up," a man growled at her.
Oh shit... Oh shit, Oh shitty shit, shit-shit. Something had happened when they kissed. There had been this rushing feeling after a little bit, then the feelings and memories that weren't hers had come flooding in.
There was the sound of a door opening, then another person joined the duo. But at least this one didn't reek to high hell, unlike the others. Hadn't they ever heard of something called a bath?
"This would have been so much easier had you not gotten involved with Xavier's new puppet," said a female voice. The voice was cold, yet still not normal. Marie couldn't place what her voice sounded like, but it was in no way supposed to sound like it did.
"Where is he?" asked the one holding her, his voice held a thick English accent.
"Dealing with the incompetent twins. The girls escaped. But no matter now, let's bring her to Creed's room."
She was shifted uncomfortably around before they continued down the hall to another room. Things had just gone from bad to worse in Marie's mind. Nothing made sense.
Thankfully, it was a short trip. There would be some nasty bruises for sure as it was. They put her down and took off the sack. Taking a moment for her eyes to adjust, she viewed her assailants. One was the big man from one of the dinners, the other his partner. And the third...
Green guy had to steady her as she felt herself about to faint again. The third was her father.
Where had the woman gone? And why was her father standing there and not doing anything about it!
"Don't pass out on us, Marie. We need you conscious," the man that looked like her father told her. "You are going to go into this room, and you are going to touch Graydon. You are going to continue touching him until his lifeless corpse falls from your hands."
This wasn't happening... This wasn't happening... This wasn't happening...
"Logan is in my people's custody. And they are just waiting to hear the order to kill him."
At the mention of Logan's name, Marie took a guess at something and searched through her brain, focusing on the ever more growling and ordering part of it.
She needed answers fast, and that was the best place to look.
Teasing Scooter over how flirtatious his wife is.
Standing in a deep forest, staring numbly at three bone claws sticking out in between her knuckles.
Beating the shit out of the next hapless victim who stepped into the cage.
Scott and Jean seeking her out, talking about Xavier and mutants and his school.
On the ship. Talking about Marie's skin and a shapeshifter.
It all made sense to her now. She could kill with her skin, and they wanted her to kill Creed with it. The shapeshifter... it had been her father all along, and the Logan in the Scotland Road that attacked her. She cursed herself for being as stupid as to just accept the explanation and not dwell further. Yet it didn't matter, she would never have come up with that answer in a million years.
Mutants were beings with extraordinary powers, and Creed wanted to murder them all. Maybe assassinating him wouldn't be such a bad thing.
The Logan in her head was not at all happy with that. He wanted her to escape, for fear that they would harm her after the job was done, or make her continue to work for them.
The shapeshifter knocked on the door.
Marie's hands involuntarily clenched tightly. As soon as they had, a stabbing pain shot through her knuckles. With a cry, she lifted her hands and saw bone claws much like that she had seen in Logan's memories. It hurt like hell for them to slide through her arms and out her knuckles, but the pain dulled immediately.
The big guy growled and made a grab for her, but he was slow, she was fast. With lightening quick reflexes she hadn't realized she had, Marie moved out of his grasp and slashed at the green guy before hotfooting it out of there.
The growl behind her confirmed that the big guy wasn't going to give up so easily. All she could do was pray that she would make it to safety before the big guy got to her.
April 14th, 1912
11: 01pm
"My God! What happened!" Jean exclaimed as Remy and Amy wheeled a servant cart in with a drenched Logan stuffed on the bottom.
"After Remy was told he would be fired after this crossing--" Amy began.
"Somet'in t' do wit' spendin' more time wit' de passengers den my job," Remy felt the need to add with a slight smile and wink towards his new fancy. Ever since the girls had come back, they had been inseparable from their significant others.
She blushed in response, but continued on. "Well, on our way up, we noticed the indoor pool door open. He was floating face down in the water."
"Goddess..." Ororo breathed out, helping Jenn with preparing the couch to set him on.
Immediately after Logan was unceremoniously dropped onto the couch, Jean examined him. "He's still alive, but we have to get the water out of his lungs..." Assuming full doctor-mode, Jean instructed her husband on how to do part of a technique. They rotated with their jobs, her forcing air into Logan's lungs, while Scott pumped his chest.
The display continued for a few minutes before Jean turned Logan's head as he spat out water all over the place. Water drenched everything before him as he coughed and gasped for air. "Ma... Ma..." he tried to speak.
"You just technically drowned, Logan. You shouldn't talk," Jean told him, smoothing his hair back on his face to calm him some.
"There was more, Professor," Amy began, careful to get his attention before continuing. "The scent of Ms. Darkholme and two very smelly guys still lingered in the pool area."
Xavier sat in a chair, pondering the information. "Erik's plan has begun. Kidnapping you two must have been a rouse to keep us off his trail concerning what he truly intended to do."
"Marie..." Logan finally managed to gasp out. "Let me... move, Red..."
"You need to stay here, L--"
"Fuck it!" he shouted, which caused another coughing fit.
Xavier looked over at the volatile situation. Logan was on the verge of attacking Jean if she didn't let him up. "Jean, let him go."
"But..." her protests died when the father figure spoke to her mentally. "Alright."
With shaking limbs, Logan stood on his feet. It didn't matter to him that he could barely stand, and had to use the back of the couch as support. He had to find Marie. Something had happened to her if he was there and she wasn't.
One step was all it took for Logan's form to crumple, stopped from hitting the floor only by Remy's quick reflexes. "Easy dere, homme."
Marie was in trouble, he couldn't afford to rest for even a few seconds, let alone the minutes he needed. She could already be dead for all they knew. They didn't even know what Erik wanted her for. If Logan wasn't so weak he would have punched the first thing his fist came into contact with. Violence shed off the anger and frustration, giving way to exhaustion. That was how he dealt with things.
But exhaustion had settled in without a fight, and it made Logan more frustrated. His body and Jean convinced him at least five minutes of resting would do him a world of good. In the meantime, they sent the young couples out to search for Marie. The girls could help in finding her, and the boys could help in fighting for her if need be.
Not even five minutes is what he allowed for himself. The next time he got up and walked, he ended with much better results. His body had calmed from the lack of air. So after grabbing a coat, he was ready to go after Marie. With a growl that might have been a word, he barged out of the room and began sniffing.
There was no new trace of Marie in the corridor. That didn't matter, he would go and search each deck if he had to. He would rip apart each and every room in the whole goddamn ship for her.
But his instincts were taking him to a certain destination. His feet walked him to the Grand Staircase and that's when he smelled her. It was a fresh scent... but it held fear... great fear... The scent of one of Erik's dogs, and old nemesis of Logan himself was also there.
An involuntary growl came out, startling a nearby steward into thinking twice about asking the gruff man if he needed anything. He took off like a shot, bounding the stairs, following the scent. Marie's scent got even stronger as he ran.
Adrenaline pumping through his veins, he didn't stop running to even get a clear sniff, he just followed his instincts to stay on the trail. When he had reached the beginning of the Forward Castle deck, just underneath the Bridge, he saw Marie cornered by the hairy brute near to the Cargo Bay door. The salt of her tears overpowered the salt from the ocean in the air in his senses.
The blonde beast was trailing an overgrown fingernail-like claw down her wet cheeks. Her small body trembled in fear at the man who was two times larger than her.
Logan was certain that Victor had growled something to her which made her eyes widen more in fear and a choked cry come from her beautiful trembling lips. Yet he did not hear it. His mind felt it unnecessary to know.
His mate was in danger.
The young woman he had declared as his own with a kiss down below was in danger, and he had to do something about it.
With a feral roar that sounded both human and animal, Logan rushed towards the brute, claws unsheathing in the process. Victor might have been fast, but Logan was faster as the six bone claws met their mark and embedded themselves deep into Victor's chest.
Victor howled out in pain, sounding more animal than anything else. In defense, he backhanded Logan, sending him flying across the desk and knocked so hard against the wall, Logan could have sworn he saw stars other than the ones in the sky.
For a brief moment after his senses cleared, he thought he smelled ice, but shook his head to rid himself of the fogginess.
His enemy ignored Marie and went after the still conscious threat, slashing at Logan's head, to which he ducked and stabbed at Victor's knee.
He knew it wasn't good when he felt Victor lift him up by the back of his collar and tossed him overboard. Were it not for his claws stopping him just a few feet below the deck, he would have been destined to sleep with the fishies.
As Logan struggled to get back on solid ground, he could hear Marie cry out for him. Victor turned his attention back to the girl. Knowing she was once again the target and Logan had been thrown overboard, she ran to the only place she could, farther to the bow of the ship. Her haste was halted only with what loomed before her eyes.
Just as she saw it, the warning bell in the Crow's Nest was rung.
An iceberg.
A damn huge iceberg was in front and the ship was on a direct course. Thoughts of her mother's ramblings fueled into her brain again. She was so stunned by it that she didn't react until it was too late. Victor clamped one arm around her arms and waist, the other over her mouth where he had a sleeve to keep her silent.
"Don't worry, Miss. You are wanted alive," he growled into her ear, making her shudder.
Getting himself over the railing, Logan heard one of the men in the crow's nest shout, "Iceberg! Right ahead!"
Immediately, the officers reacted above in the Bridge. Murdoch and crewmembers started yelling, "Hard to starboard!" and other orders to deal with the dilemma.
However, icebergs were the least of Logan's concern. He still had a cat to quickly dispose of its nine lives.
Marie didn't know what she feared more. The man who was holding her, or the iceberg she couldn't peel her eyes from, or worse yet... the fact that Logan was now alone in the cold sea. Tears fell from her eyes and down to Victor's hand.
Logan was gone...
The brute's tight grip weakened immensely when she heard the same sickening sound of something stabbing into someone else. She was pushed harshly against the railing and spun around to see if it could be true.
It was. Her love was still alive and once again attacking Victor with a ferocity she had never seen before. His eyes were ablaze, almost glowing red in the dark lighting, All attention was on each other as the two animals battled it out on the front of the ship.
They were fast and merciless. Marie cringed every time Victor hit Logan, and cried out in terror as one of Victor's slashes hit home, tearing a gaping hole into his neck.
"NOOO!" she screamed helplessly as Logan fell to the deck, blood gushing from the wound in his throat.
A feral grin spread across Victor's face as he watched his prey go down. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw some people rush to the level they were on. He immediately turned his attention in time to see one of Xavier's puppets remove his red glasses.
Victor was thrown against the railing at the very peak of the ship by a bright red beam, the iceberg now overshadowing any sea or stars in that direction. They were going to hit, it was a certainty.
The blast wasn't enough to knock him off the ship. Another of the men who had come pulled something out of his pocket. In a moment's time, it began to glow. Just as it started, the man threw it at Victor's feet, and the thing exploded just as the ship struck. The combined forces of the ship shaking and the explosion made the overly large man fall over the railing.
His back impacted with the iceberg with a sickening loud crack and he fell through a crevice into the ocean. Desperate for leverage, he clawed at the ship, unable to feel his legs for his spine had been broken. The claws scraped along the ship as it moved beneath them, puncturing long streaks into the ship's weak hull. He couldn't see anything, couldn't feel much in his upper torso except for the burning pain from the cold and the need for oxygen.
As the ship continued on its course, Victor was pulled away by the rushing water. With a silent cry of defiance, it sped away, continuing to push him further and further from his salvation. When that was gone, he knew there would be no hope for him. He was trapped under the iceberg and couldn't get to the surface. With one final thought, he took in the water that surrounded him.
April 14th, 1912
11: 47pm
Staring at the iceberg was all Marie could do from looking behind her. Victor was gone, there was no doubt there. But she couldn't bear to turn around and find Logan gone. It just couldn't be. The imagines of his throat being ripped out were pushed far back into her mind and locked away in a cage.
She could hear his friends behind her, perhaps trying to help him. But it was useless. No one could survive what--
No! He was perfectly alright. He was perfectly alright...
Even as she repeated it to herself, her body shook with sobs. A hand fell on her shoulder and she jumped, turning to face her new assailant.
But the waiter, Remy, is who stood before her. "Scott says he be fine, chere. Jus' give 'im time."
"F-fine?" she stammered. Logan, fine? But how...?
"Oui. But you shouldn't see, it not pretty."
She had to see, she just had to. Pushing Remy back, she ran over to where Logan lay. Scott had turned him over and was currently using his jacket to slow the bleeding. But it was true, Logan was still alive despite the gaping hole in his throat and the blood coming out of his mouth. His face didn't hold the expression that impending death usually did, just a pained calm.
Her arms wrapped around him as she buried her face in his chest, still letting Scott do what he was. Silent tears fell from her eyes, mixing with the blood already on his shirt. "Logan, don't ya' dare leave me... Don' ya' dare..." she whispered to him.
To comfort her and ensure her that he would be alright, he wrapped an arm around her waist and held her as tightly as he could. It was a great pain to breathe and his body was weakening even more at the coughing he had to do.
The couple remained like that for the few minutes it took for the worst damage to repair itself so Logan could breathe normally again. Still using Scott's coat as a bandage, he got to his feet. Marie never left him as he did, still plastered herself against him, matting the side of her face and the center of her chest with his blood yet not caring.
"Are ya' doin' better, sugah?" she asked him, noticing the endearment she used and blushing profusely.
Relief spread through her like she had never felt before when he gave her a crooked smile and nodded his head. Footsteps alerted them to someone else coming up to them. Hopefully the crew were too busy with the iceberg to really notice or care about what they had seen on the front of the ship, however doubtful it might be.
Amy peeked her head over at them all standing there. "Guys, you should come. I got a bad feelin' about this," she said, jerking her head back to indicated the iceberg now behind them. "Captain just ordered to stop the ship."
Before they followed, Logan turned to Marie and mouthed the words, 'You okay?'.
Apparently he couldn't talk yet, that part must not have healed yet. Concern shone through his eyes and she became lost in them for a moment before Logan fingered the blood on her front. "Ah- Ah'm fine, Logan. It's yers. He didn' hurt me."
Most of them returned to Xavier's quarters, but Amy and Remy went off to try and find out more information even though they already knew what was happening. The ship was going to sink, Irene's ramblings had told them that. What they hadn't known was until that moment, was if it were to be on that voyage or one years from now.
Marie felt good to be in a warmer climate and in the presence of a man whom she had come to respect for no reason. The kindness he emitted even in the crisis at hand was enough to calm her as well.
Everyone within Xavier's group had squeezed themselves into one room. Most had to stand because there weren't nearly enough chairs.
Her face paled at that thought. There weren't enough chairs like there weren't enough lifeboats.
"Now..." the Professor began, "I have brought you all here due to an emergency. The ship has struck an iceberg, despite what we are being told, it was certainly not a thrown propeller blade. Given Irene Alder's ramblings that night in the Dinning Room, I believe that it is happening."
"Should I try and create a vortex around the ship? Keep the water from getting in and transport us to safety?" the black goddess asked softly.
"No... I doubt the ship could handle it, and you would make the coming panic even worse than it will be. We all know what the outcome is going to be."
Marie graciously accepted the moist piece of cloth offered to her in order to at least wipe the blood off her face. Nothing could be done about her attire.
"Given Erik's powers, although none of us trust him," Jean mused as she checked on Logan's wounds, "Could he help if he was willing?"
Xavier sighed and shook his head. "I doubt he would be. He doesn't have much care for regular humans. Besides, I don't believe he has the strength necessary to do it."
"What?" Logan growled weakly. Marie could see that the wound had completely healed and Logan was wiping himself off and discarding his jacket and shirt.
His chest made her lost yet again, until Xavier spoke, "Erik is dying. He hasn't told me up front, but I know it. That leaves him weak."
"Then why doesn't the bastard keel over and die now? Make things a helluva lot simpler for us."
The Professor gave Logan an amused smile other than a verbal response. His eyes immediately clouded over as the did when he used his powers. "Amy's eavesdropped on a meeting being held in someone's quarters. He suspects one or two hours at most before the ship is gone."
Everyone in the room looked at one another. The situation was grave. Very grave. Bobby, who up to that moment had been as silent as Jenn, spoke up with the one question on everyone's minds. "What do we do?"
No one spoke for a minute as the each considered the question that shouldn't have been answered, for the question should not have had need to be asked. Gripped his wife's hand tightly, Scott was the one who responded. "They will follow standard procedure. Women and children shall be sent off first."
At that moment, Jean and Jennifer clung to their men, refusing to believe they would have to be parted. The door opened as Remy and Amy entered, followed closely by a steward. "Ladies and gentlemen. It is Captain's orders that you please return to your rooms, put on your lifebelts, and proceed to the Boat Deck in an orderly fashion as soon as possible." As he spoke, he opened the closet and extracted the lifebelts there, handing them to the nearest people to him.
Jennifer and Marie accepted the preservers and put hem on. Marie was in shock, but her body still complied to unconscious orders.
"Logan, Scott, Remy. You three go to our other rooms and get enough for all of us. The rest of you go to the staircase and wait," Xavier ordered.
Logan's hand on her sleeved arm snapped Marie out of her daze. "It'll be okay. We'll get you to a boat."
"But what about you?"
He gave her a reassuring smile. "If there is one thing you should have learned about me by now, is that it's damn hard to kill me."
"Logan? Could you help me get my mother and two servants on a boat as well?"
The door before him opened and he went inside, grabbing the lifebelts. "Your mother?" Although there was still no indication that Irene Alder used her powers on purpose to help Erik and the like, he still felt uneasy about returning her to her room. "I'll get them. I don't want you anywhere near them."
"Okay..."
"Here, go with Remy and stay by him until I meet with you again. I'll help your mother and servants," he said as he left, only stopping for enough time to hand her the preservers.
Marie watched sadly as he left her standing there. She wanted to cry, to beg him to stay with her, to never leave her again. But she knew he was doing it for her safety and was willing to accept that. They would meet up again in a little while and she would latch onto him and refuse to let go, even if it meant her not getting on one of those boats.