Chapter VI:

The ride was relatively short, as she suspected it would be. After the soldier driving had helped her get Logan out of the motor car and back into the wheelchair, she gave him a time to return and watched him go. The moment he was out of sight, Wolverine stood up, pushing the wheelchair away in disgust. She had to help him walk for a few minutes, since he'd been in that bed so long his legs weren't used to walking. "What is this place?"

"Ah'm not really sure. Ah found it a while ago, when Ah was lookin' for a place Ah could do laundry an' bathe an' all that."

"You bathe here? I'll have to keep that in mind..." She laughed and elbowed him lightly in the ribs.

"Don't even think about it, mister!"

"Too late." The childish, playful grin that'd spread across his lips made her smile as well, and she knew from the feel of heat rushing to her cheeks that she was blushing. She continued to walk down the small hill and eventually stopped when they'd reached a small wooden dock. "What's this?"

"A dock. They use it for fishin'. Or they did, before the Germans came through here and destroyed everything, sending people packing." She sat down on the edge of it, after peeling her shoes off. She could feel him watching her as she slipped first her toes, then both of her feet into the water.

"Oh." She heard him crack his neck a minute before deciding to take a seat beside her. "Logan."

"Ah beg your pardon?" She peeled her eyes off of the clouds to look over at him.

"My name. It's Logan."

"Just Logan?"

"Far as I know, yep." He paused a moment, seemingly hesitant about going on. He busied his hands by picking up a handful of rocks and skipping them across the lake water. "A while back... these... people, they tried this experiment on me. I don't know if it worked or not... I just know I woke up with no memory. Oh, and a pair of these..." The next moment, he'd flexed his hands a certain way, and three very long, apparently very sharp, claws sprung from his knuckles. The sound made her wince, as did the idea of them having to cut through his skin to come out.

"Ah'm sorry..."

"What for? 'Less you helped put them there, you've got no reason t'be."

"Ah guess."

"What about you?"

"Hm?"

"Your name?"

"Marie."

"Just Marie?"

"Far as Ah know, yep." He laughed slightly and nodded in understanding. Taking a stone from his hand, Marie cocked her head slightly and tossed it, frowning when it hit the water and sank. "Ah never was very good at that."

"It's more like this." Standing to his feet, he helped her up, and put a stone into her hand. Getting behind her, he took hold of her hand, carefully concentrating and angling it. "I'm guessing, from the accent, you're from the South?"

"Born an' bred in Mississippi." With his help, she managed to flick her wrist enough to send the stone skipping across the pond. "Not that Ah should be tellin' you that or anythin'."

"Why not?" He brushed his hands off and started to stretch. She sat back down and watched him run through a few exercises while she explained.

"Nurses are warned on tha way ovah here not to get involved in tha soldiers' lives. Too upsettin', since we lose most of them, y'know? Tha last person to fall in love with a soldier she was tendin' to was deported for inappropriate behavior."

"So fallin' in love is inappropriate, huh?"

"Only if tha head nurse hears about it!" She laughed slightly, looking away when she began to think of how good he looked, working out with no shirt on. She looked back again to see him paused in his work out, and staring at her. "What?"

"You've got those gloves on again?"

"Oh... yeah..."

"What gives? I haven't seen you take them off since I've gotten here. Except for that night... with the guy next to me... what did you say happened to him?" Marie tried to act uninterested in it all, as if she had nothing to do with it, but her visage portrayed otherwise. Looking in her eyes, Logan could see the guilt she was hiding.

"That was... Ah mean... it was an accident... he caught me off guard is all..."

"You... you're a mutant too, aren't you? That's why you wanted me to keep up this injury business... cuz you'd get in trouble too..." She hung her head slightly, feeling so selfish she could barely look him in the eye, let alone answer him. Sighing, she looked back down at the water and nodded in reply. "Hey, I'm not mad about it. Just curious."

"Ah... Ah have a hard time controllin' mah powers..."

"Which are... ?" He'd taken a seat beside her now, since she'd dropped the tone of her voice to no louder than a whisper.

"Ah c'n absorb people's energy an' their memories... just by touchin' them..." She pulled her feet up out of the water and looked at him. "Before Ah was sent ovah here, Ah was in trainin' with Mr. McCoy, tha doctor who saved that man tha other day. He helped me learn t'keep mah powers in check. But it takes a lot of concentratin', so most of tha time Ah just wear gloves t'avoid it. But you noticed, an' kept askin', so Ah took them off. Ah didn't think he'd touch me, 'else Ah'd have kept them on." She frowned at herself. She only spoke with a heavy accent when she was getting upset. And she was upset, for what she'd done, as well as for telling all these secrets to a man she'd only met three days ago.

"Hey..." He could tell she was upset over something, so he carefully slid an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close to him. He had never done anything like this before, she could tell, because his movements were hesitant and awkward. Nevertheless, it was something relatively close to a hug, a gesture she hadn't had in months, and she was grateful for it. "You can't be expected to be perfect all the time. People make mistakes."

"But... mah mistakes c'n kill people..."

"Mine too."

"It's such a heavy burden, isn't it?" She pulled away from him then, not because she didn't appreciate the hug, and, she had to admit, she did enjoy being in a man's arms again after going so very long without that. Still, she couldn't have anything to do with this man, not romantically anyway. Suddenly, she looked at her hands, realizing they were just sitting there. She liked to have them doing things... if they weren't, she felt awkward. So she pulled them up and wiped the tears away from her eyes and sighed some, fixing her hair afterward.

"You get used to it."

"Ah suppose you're right."

"Suppose? I'm always right."

"Ah'll believe that when a man filled with metal swims across this lake, one hand tied behind his back." She'd meant it as a joke, a retaliation for his ego, hoping to bring it down slightly. In the end, all she accomplished was building it up. Before she knew what was happening, he had pulled his uniform jacket down over one arm, keeping it securely against his back. "Wait a minute..." It slowly dawned on her just what he planned on doing. "No! Logan! Don't you dare!"

She got to her feet as quickly as she could, considering she was in a dress. By then, he had moved to the end of the dock and was now facing her, a smile spread over his lips. After saluting her with his free hand, he took one more step backward and fell into the water. "Logan!" She ran to the edge of the dock and looked around frantically, panicking when she didn't see him. All at once, two arms reached out from the depths of the water, and wrapped tightly around her waist, pulling her down into the water as well. She only had time for a suprised gasp before her head was underneath the water along with the rest of her. Her arms thrashed around as she tried to get above the water. The two arms around her waist helped hoist her up and she quickly heaved in the fresh air. When she looked behind her, where Logan was wading, she sent him a scowl. He replied with a grin, and moved over to the dock, taking hold of it and pulling himself up. She remained in there a moment, both arms moving to see to it she stayed afloat, all the while scowling in his direction. She tried to look angry, but it was hard when on the verge of bursting into giggles.

"Want some help?" He crouched down and offered her a hand. She looked at it warily, then moved over and took it. Just before he moved to help her up, she tugged and sent him back into the water. Grinning smugly, she pulled herself out of the water and proceeded to wring out her skirt, though it wouldn't be completely dry now for a few hours at least.

"Missed a spot." She turned to see him getting out himself, watching her care for her drenched clothes.

"Where... ?" She turned about, looking for a piece of skirt she hadn't gotten yet.

"Right... there..." He pointed to the back of her skirt and she frowned, then moved to take hold of it, when realization hit. She watched a wide grin pass over his lips as the heat rushed into her cheeks. He was trying to get a peek at her undergarments.

"Ah never would have guessed you were such a... a... heathen!" Laughing, she threw her soaked handkerchief at him and took hold of her hat which, thankfully, she had pulled off earlier. "Well, sir, Ah do hope you're feelin' bettah, cuz Ah assure you, you're walkin' home!" She had to turn away from him quickly to hide the smile that took hold of her. Walking away from him, Marie realized that she hadn't been so relaxed and carefree in many months. She wondered if it had to do with this particular patient, or if he just happened to be the one to help. It could have been any man in his place... couldn't it?