Chapter 2
The snow did not let up. It would blizzard hard for two or three days, then the sun would peak for a day or two before the snow took over again. The snowplows had given up trying to keep the highway clear, and, for once, Logan didn't care. His cabin wasn't going anywhere. Elise's bed was much warmer than the cold road north. Over the span of a month the weight of her head on his shoulder as she slept curled against his side had become familiar, and the horrible nightmares disappeared for the first time in years.
He slept a lot while she was at work. He asked her once when she slept, seeing as they kept each other up most nights. "I'll sleep later," had been her answer. As insatiable as he was, she was more so. She fed off him like she was starving, like she was shoving a lifetime of moments into her memory.
When the snow would stop, she would drag him for walks in the trees.
Logan was not fond of the cold. The metal adhered to his bones seemed to catch the cold and stiffen the joints in his body. He would protest loudly, but she was hard to deny.
"Stay in with me, instead," he demanded once, grabbing her waist and kissing her. The last blizzard had raged for almost four days, and the bright sunlight shining through the windows could not disguise the fact that it was still very cold.
"There's plenty of time for that later," she said, breaking his grip and thrusting his coat at him.
Logan growled, reducing her to giggles. "Do it again," she whispered. He growled deeper, reaching for her. "Oh, not this time, mister," she laughed. "Just a quick walk before it starts snowing again."
The snow was powdery under their boots. The sun was shinning bright in the winter sky, but the large pine trees, thick with branches, kept most of the blinding light at bay.
"How long have you been able to "know" things?" he asked.
She sighed. "A long time. Since I was about eleven or twelve. It was hard at first. Not only did it scare other people, but it scared the hell out of me. It wasn't very far in advance. Just a few minutes, hours, maybe a day at the most. It was usually stupid little stuff… like who was calling on the phone or what was going to happen in school that day. Finally I figured out I should keep my mouth shut. You know, keep it to myself." She gave him a sideways smile. "I quickly got sick of being made fun of."
"What is the farthest in advance you saw something?"
"Three days."
"What did you see?"
"The death of my mom."
The silence stretched between them. Logan waited to see if it was a story she wanted to tell.
"I was eighteen. My dad had died when I was little, so it was just the two of us in the house. I went in the kitchen for breakfast one morning. She was cooking eggs on the stove with her back to me. I saw her, and I just knew. It's not like I see a picture, like a vision. All of the sudden, the knowledge is just there."
"Did you try to stop it?"
She shook her head. "It doesn't work like that. If I knew what the future held and I could change it, it wouldn't be the future anymore." She gave a little laugh. "For instance, I had a cat when I was thirteen. I knew one day he was going to get hit by a car. I locked him in the house all day. When I got home, he bolted when I opened the door. I chased him, which made him run even faster. I chased him right into that damn car."
"Have you ever been surprised about anything?"
"Not much," she said quietly. "That tends to make life kind of boring. I suppose, if I let it, it would be pretty depressing. Being surprised is a special privilege I don't get to have very often." She smiled. "But when I am surprised, it makes it that much better."
They reached the top of the slope and looked down over the frozen lake, its surface wind-blown clean of most of the snow. Elise slipped her arms around his waist and kissed him lightly. "I know you didn't want to come, but you have to admit this is beautiful."
She was right. This was the reason he chose to travel this country. The land was untouched. Trees thickly surrounded the large lake, their branches heavy with the fallen snow. The lake stretched on to the horizon, where the sun hung heavy in the pale sky. Elise laid her head against his chest and he inhaled deeply, smelling her shampoo, the crispness of the winter air, and…
"Bear," he said suddenly, as the animal burst through the trees.
Elise stood frozen, a horrified look on her face. "Run," he said gently. She backed up slowly, refusing to turn her back on the bear. "Elise, goddammit, RUN!" he shouted. Finally, she turned and ran.
The bear glanced in her direction, and instead focused on the man standing still in front of him. He reared up on his hind legs to his full twelve foot height.
Logan stood his ground. There was a metallic 'snikt' noise as he extended his claws.
The bear roared in challenge, and swung an enormous paw at Logan's chest. Logan darted to the left and thrust his right hand upward. His claws glanced off the bear's tough skin, doing much less damage than intended. He punched the bear beneath its rib cage with his left hand, sinking three admantium claws deep into the bear's skin. The bear roared in pain and rage, and batted Logan in the chest. A talon sunk deep into his shoulder, and the force of the blow sent him flying. He smacked into a tree and slid to the ground.
Searing pain shot up Logan's left arm. He shook his head to clear it and stood up. Rage burned red behind his eyes at the smell of his own blood, and he stood half panting, half growling at the bear coming closer on all fours.
Blood poured freely from the bear's side. Logan held his ground as the bear advanced. As the bear reared again, Logan let out a feral roar, shot under the bear's raised paw, jumped on its back, and ripped out its throat.
The bear dropped in a heap on the ground. The snow around it melted and steamed as its warm blood poured from the gouge in its neck. Logan lay on the bear's back, his shoulder throbbing, his chest heaving. As the rage subsided, he felt eyes on him.
Elise gaped at him from behind a tree several yards away.
He retracted his claws, slid down to the ground, and began walking towards her. "I thought I told you to run," he muttered before he collapsed in her arms.
When he came to, the sun was beginning to set. He sat up quickly, causing his head to pound. "Relax." A calming hand stroked the back of his neck. "You've only been out a few minutes or so. Do you think you can make it back?" He nodded.
With Elise's help, they made it back to her house. He could already feel the muscles of his shoulder pulling as they began to heal, but he was exhausted from blood loss and the adrenaline of the battle. She helped him strip off his ruined clothes and laid him down on her bed.
"I'm going to get the doctor," she said, turning to leave.
Logan grabbed her arm. "No. No doctor."
"You have a six inch gash on your arm!"
"Just let me sleep!" he snapped at her. She backed away, her eyes hurt.
"If you want to do something, get a bandage and wrap it up. I'll be just fine. I need to rest."
She nodded and left the room. Logan was fast asleep when she came back to cover the wound.
He slept all night and most of the next day. He woke in the bed alone, but he could smell her in the house. He unwound the bandage from his shoulder. There was a thick red line running from his collar halfway down his arm. It was tender but healing. Standing, he walked out in the living room to apologize to Elise.
She was curled up on the sofa under a blanket, an unread book on her lap. Her eyes, rimmed red and swollen from crying, followed him as he came and sat down at her feet.
"Are you a mutant?" she asked quietly.
"I didn't know how to tell you, darlin'. Not after you had such a strong reaction before. Didn't you see it comin'?"
"Not this time." She gave him a tired laugh. "I don't think I like those kind of surprises."
"Does it bother you?"
She picked up his hand and ran her fingers over his knuckles. "No. But I always thought mutants were freaks. I didn't know they could look normal… like you." She met his eyes. "Or maybe me." She scooted closer to him and gave him a hug. "Thank you for saving my life." She buried her face in his neck and began to cry. He rocked her in his arms, stroking her hair, as she sobbed her fear away. When she calmed down, he made love to her slow, until he was sure they both had forgotten the events of yesterday.
April came, and brought with it the thaw. The sun shone higher in the sky and some of the snow began to melt. The snowplows came through and the highway stayed clear, the cement visible for the first time in months. The urge to pick up and go was a constant itch under his skin that became harder and harder to ignore.
When Elise came home early from the diner and caught him hunched over a map, the pain in her eyes showed she knew what was coming. She sat down on the couch and looked at her feet.
He sat down next to her and tucked a piece of fallen hair behind her ear. "Elise…"
"Don't," she said, dropping her voice to a whisper. "Just don't." She put her arms around his neck and lightly kissed the end of his nose. "Take me to bed. Let me have tonight. Please."
He awoke and packed his bag in the dark of the morning. Elise lay silent, her breathing even as he bent over the bed to take her in one last time. Her hair spilled over her pillow and down her back. Her lips were parted in a small smile in her sleep. Logan smiled. She has about forty different smiles, he thought to himself. She even smiles when she sleeps.
He went into the kitchen and was thinking of writing her a note when he noticed an envelope on the counter with his name on it.
He sat down on a chair in the living room, opened the envelope, and began to read.
Just Logan,
I told you once that I knew the day I met you that things would go far. I also knew right away that one day you would have to leave. That was actually the farthest in advance I'd ever known something. Knowing that you would leave didn't make it any less sweet. It was still the best time I've ever had.
Don't feel bad for leaving. You don't want to be tied down, and I will not be the person that tries to do that to you.
Go. Go with my love. Remember you will always have a friend here.
Elise
Logan folded the letter and put it in his shirt pocket. He shut the door to the little house and climbed into his truck. Regret ached dull in his throat, but the excitement of new places overwhelmed it. He started his truck and rambled toward the highway. Turning south, he blocked out the pain as he wondered what spring had in store.
Inside the house, Elise listened to the truck rumble up the road. She had known about this moment for months, but that did not make it hurt any less.
Logan had asked her once if she was ever surprised. She had not told him that while she had known he would be her lover, she had not known she would fall in love with him. She didn't know where he had come from or how old he was. She didn't know his last name. Instead, she knew the shape of his hands, the curve of his neck, the feel of his skin on hers, the smell of his hair, and she loved him for it.
Part of her had wanted to tell him, but that part was irrational. The future was unchangeable. Whether or not she informed him of certain things was incidental. He would still leave, and having him leave knowing that she loved him would have made it that much harder to let him go.
A little flicker of knowledge about the future was a small consolation. She ran a hand across her belly. It was way too early to feel a change, but she knew the baby—no, babies, were there. Logan had at least left a little of himself behind for her to remember him.