ON THE RUN

The battle at the Statue of Liberty was finally done. Magneto's mad plan to turn everyone on Earth into a mutant had been stopped cold.

Magneto retreated into the freakishly storm-tossed night sky. Sabertooth was also gone, but he left a trail of blood as he staggered into the wind-tossed waters of the Upper Bay. Toad had been blasted by Ororo and knocked into the river. Mystique - almost gutted by Logan - had simply vanished.

It certainly looked like a win, but Logan could tell that something was wrong. Dead wrong. Magneto and his people were gone, but Logan had no clue about the other guys who subsequently appeared and began fighting in and around the Statue of Liberty.

To a certain extent, Logan really didn't give a damn about them. He hadn't fought to frustrate Magneto's plans, or even to kill Magneto and his minions. Oh, those were all more-than-reasonable goals, but Logan actually fought alongside the X-Men in order to save Marie.

And the new guys who'd appeared out of nowhere? Logan really didn't care about them as long as Marie was safe.

So the fight Logan had really cared about was over but he had somehow lost track of the other X-Men. Logan could have sworn he saw Ororo light up the sky just before she vanished, but could even she create the massive blue light-show that was highlighting so much of the sky? And why couldn't he sense Scott or Jean anywhere?

As Logan carried Marie down the Statue of Liberty, he steadily became more and more pissed-off. What the hell was going on? Had the X-Men really abandoned them? Marie needed help, but Jean - the X-Men's team doctor - was gone, there was no sign of the Blackbird, and Charles wasn't using his mind-tricks to try and contact Logan.

And who were those other people - the guys with their stupid outfits, robot arms, red capes, and strange gliders - who'd suddenly appeared out of nowhere and were fighting all over the island? They weren't X-Men and they didn't seem to be with Magneto. So where had they come from? And why did the Statue of Liberty suddenly look... different? For that matter, the skyline of Manhattan also seemed strange. Where were the Twin Towers?

At the base of the statue, a guy in a red and blue leotard with a spider symbol in the middle of his chest fell out of the sky and intercepted Logan. He looked pretty beaten up. He also looked concerned.

Logan was still carrying Marie.

"Is she okay?" the spider-guy asked as he looked at Marie. Logan didn't read him as hostile. He mostly just seemed concerned.

"No, she isn't fucking okay!" Logan snarled. "I need to get her to a hospital!"

The spider-guy nodded towards the shoreline. "Get over there and head north," he told Logan.

That was actually useful information. Logan nodded once, then brushed past the spider-guy and continued on.

Looking down, Logan again noticed the white streak in Marie's hair. He hoped it wasn't a bad sign.

"C'mon kid," Logan whispered. "Stay with me."


The spider-guy knew the local geography. It turned out that New Jersey was actually closer than New York city. At first, Logan couldn't find a damn boat and he was getting to the point that he was willing to try swimming the thousand or so feet to land. But then emergency vessels began crowding into the Liberty Island ferry terminal while helicopters hovered overhead.

Instinct told Logan that it wouldn't be a good idea to give Marie up to emergency services. What he and the others had been doing at the Statue of Liberty probably wasn't legal, and Logan didn't feel like trying to explain it to the cops.

So he stole a harbor-police boat. That involved ambushing, subduing, and handcuffing a couple of cops - which even Logan felt bad about. He tried to make sure they didn't get a good look at either Marie or him.

Logan had huge gaps in his memory and every now and then discovered that he had unexpected skills. Logan didn't know he could pilot a boat until he suddenly had to. At which point he expertly cast off from the dock and motored to shore. It occurred to him that he might find Sabertooth in the water, but Logan regretfully blew off the idea of running him over with the boat's propeller. Before anything else, he had to get Marie to a doctor.


Logan grounded the boat at the shore of some kind of park and then stole a car at claw-point.

"Don't hurt him," Rogue whispered from where he had her hidden nearby. Of course, he had no problem hearing her.

"I'll park your car on a street somewhere," Logan growled at the terrified driver. "Just ask the cops about it tomorrow."

Then they followed the street signs that pointed the way to the nearest hospital.

Logan thought it was best to carry Marie the last half-mile to the hospital. The cops were sure to take an interest in them eventually and Logan had already committed more felonies than he found comfortable. His plan was to get immediate treatment for Marie and then find a phone. He'd call the mansion and tell Scott and the others to quit being assholes and come pick them up.

But before they got to the emergency room, Marie began to recover. She was shaky but okay. Which meant that going to the emergency room was perhaps an unnecessary risk.

They hid while Logan considered their options.


"What now?" Marie asked quietly. They were leaning together against the graffiti-splattered wall of a trash-strewn alleyway. Logan had an arm around Marie's shoulders. Beyond the mouth of the alley they could see the hospital that had been their destination.

Logan shrugged. "We'll get you some help. Then I'll find a phone and call the others."

Marie shook her head. "I'm fine. Let's just go."

Logan looked skeptical.

Marie persisted. "No. I'm really better. Whatever Magneto's fancy gizmo did to me, I'm over it. Well... I'm over most of it."

Cocking his head at Marie - that always reminded Marie of an animal trying to focus - Logan actually sniffed her. That was weird, but then again, Logan was a long way from ordinary. But after he did that, the sense of ferocious drive that had filled him when he thought Marie was in immediate danger seemed to at least partially drain from him.

"Okay, let's call the school," Logan said.

Marie smiled tiredly and nodded her head.


Marie had a card in her pocket that had the school's contact information. For some reason, it was hard to find a pay phone, but they eventually managed it. However, Logan got an "out of service" message when he tried to contact the school.

That was a bit too much. Logan's instincts began rumbling a warning. Was the Professor trying to go off the grid? And exactly how was cutting the phone service supposed to hide something like the mansion and the school?

Neither one of them was carrying much in the way of money so even a crappy motel room wasn't an option. So Logan had Marie hide deeper in the alleyway and went for a walk. He came back an hour later with a handful of crumpled bills, a long jacket that concealed most of his eccentric X-Men uniform, some convenience store snacks, and two cups of coffee.

Marie gratefully accepted the coffee, but she still gave Logan a long, hard, look.

"Drug dealer," Logan told her calmly. "He's banged up, but he'll live."

They spent most of their new-found cash for a room in a motel that didn't ask too many questions. The hotel TV was covering the fight on Liberty Island, but there didn't seem be much in the way of details. After a few hours of sleep - Marie took the bed while Logan curled up on the carpet next to the door - they left the room and found a diner.


After a breakfast characterized by sizable portions and mediocre quality, the two of them tried again to contact the X-Men.

They were still out of luck.

They watched the TV in the diner for some time. The media's idea of what happened at the Statue of Liberty was understandably confused. As near as Logan could tell, there had been two fights. The most spectacular one included that guy Logan had an exchange with on Liberty Island - and a few other men who were similarly dressed. They were fighting a bunch of guys who Logan perhaps unfairly pegged as "freaks and weirdos". The much more low-key fight was the one that featured the X-Men versus Magneto and his henchmen. Logan counted it as a good thing that all the cameras had ended up pointing at the larger fight.

After the two of them left the diner, they ended up in a nearby public library. There was nothing in the library about Professor Xavier or the school. It was as if Professor Xavier and his school simply didn't exist.

"That doesn't make any sense," Logan said with a shake of his head. "I mean... the X-Men part of the school is secret, but people know the school exists, right? I don't care what kind of powers Xavier has, even he can't hide something that big."

"The year is wrong," Marie told Logan thoughtfully.

Logan blinked in surprise. Marie had picked up a scrawny-looking newspaper from a periodical rack and was flipping through it. She showed Logan the date.

"2022?" Logan said after a long look at the front page.

"They're all like that," Marie added.

"Who's Joe Biden?" Logan asked as he read the newspaper's front page.

"He's the President of the United States," Marie old Logan. "He was a Senator the last I heard of him. And he looks a lot older now."

Logan drifted into silence and checked the front pages of a few other newspapers.

"What the heck is COVID?" he asked grouchily.

"A disease," Marie answered as she continued to scan the newspaper she was looking at. "I think that's why so many people are wearing masks."

"This is crazy," Logan grumbled.

"It gets crazier," Marie said. "There's nothing about mutants."

"Huh?"

"Nothing about mutants," Marie repeated with a helpless shrug. "Yeah, there are people with powers. But nobody calls them mutants. And those people with powers have been around for a while, but they're nobody I've heard of. There's a rich guy - he died recently - who wore some kind of flying armor. A fellow who tells everyone that he's the god of thunder. A guy who wears a flag. And a big guy who's green, stupid, and really strong. They're part of a team called the 'Avengers'."

"That's even dumber than 'X-Men'," Logan said grumpily.

"It gets better. Half the world supposedly died, were gone for five years, and then came back."

That was too much, but Logan couldn't think of a response.

But Marie wasn't paying attention. She was looking out a window. A police car was parked on the other side of the street.

Logan noticed what Marie was looking at.

"Time to go," he told her.


They stole another car. Logan seemed to be good at getting locked vehicles to start. That didn't really surprise Marie.

"We can't keep stealing things," Marie pointed out. "That'll attract attention."

Logan nodded in agreement.

"We'll go a hundred-or-so miles north and then ditch the car where it won't be found for a while," Logan told her. "After that we'll improvise. Have ya ever hitched a ride on a freight train?"

"No. And aren't we improvising right now?" Marie asked.

Logan smiled at that, but then he paused before going on. "We might have to head even further north - up into my old stomping grounds. I know that part of the world."

"Maybe we should try to find the school?" Marie suggested.

Logan shook his head. "If the cops have made the connection between us, the X-Men, and Liberty Island, they'll be all over the school. I dunno... maybe it's time for us to move on. The X-Men vanished once we weren't important to them any longer. We might have to return the favor."

Marie didn't respond and Logan mentally kicked himself. Marie had found a new home at Xavier's school - and Logan had just told her that she should walk away from it.

"When the heat dies down, we'll try to figure out what's going on with the school," Logan temporized.


They ditched the car in Albany. Then Logan made a contact who got them some fake ID. The ID wouldn't fool a serious investigation, but it would still be useful.

After a night of rough-camping under a railroad bridge, a local gave them a ride to a nearby small town called Waterford.

It still looked as if the authorities were completely side-tracked where the two of them were concerned. Logan wasn't willing to bet they had been completely forgotten, but for the moment they didn't seem to be on anyone's list of concerns.

But by the time they got to Waterford, they were out of money again.

Sitting by the side of the Mohawk river, they shared a bag of peanuts with some squirrels and considered their options.

"We need money," Logan said. "But you're right about being crooks. That'll attract attention."

"So we need to find work," Marie suggested thoughtfully. "But I don't think I'd be a very good cage-fighter,"

"Actually, you'd kick ass," Logan replied with a chuckle. "All you'll have to do is touch the guy and the fight'll be over."

Then Marie paused. "Did you see the news last night?" she asked.

Logan shook his head. He was not really a newshound and had spent the previous night on the roof of an abandoned downtown office building, peacefully nursing a six-pack of cheap beer while watching the stars. Meanwhile, Marie was across the street in the lobby of a hotel, fending off hopeful businessmen and stretching out a bag of complimentary popcorn.

Later on, they spent the night curled up in an isolated part of a park. Marie was uncomfortably aware that she needed a shower.

"There's a kid missing in a town just west of here," Marie said.

Logan gave Marie a blank look.

"His parents and the local folks have put together a reward to find him," Marie added. "It's up to ten thousand dollars."

A speculative glint came into Logan's eyes. But then it vanished as he shook his head.

"If we find the kid and turn him in, the first thing the cops will do is check us out. They'll think we're the ones who snatched the kid."

"What if we're not wanted for anything?" Marie suggested.

Logan opened his mouth... and then paused.

"The fight at the Statue of Liberty is all over the news," Marie continued. "The cops and the government are holding press conferences, showing pictures and videos, and asking the public for help. They want those guys in the red-and-blue outfits and the guys they were fighting. But there's nothing about us."

Logan stared at Marie.

"Look," Marie continued, "I know it sounds strange, but the world we're in right now isn't the one we were in when Magneto kidnapped me. That's obvious. So maybe this world doesn't really know about us?"

Logan nodded slowly, but then he said, "Remember - after the fight I went on what some folks would call a crime spree."

Marie nodded in casual agreement. And it surprised Logan how much that bothered him. He was really being a bad influence.

"Those two harbor cops you beat up?" Marie pointed out. "They apparently never saw who attacked them - you're pretty darn sneaky when you try. The guy who's car we stole? I can't find anything about it online. Maybe the owner just picked it up the next day and decided to forget about it. The other car? We dumped it after a few hours and the cops might think it was just a joy-ride. And that crook you robbed? He can't exactly go to the police."

Logan considered that for a long and quiet moment.

"Tell me about this missing kid," he said eventually.


The kid's name was Toby and he was six years old. The local, county, and state police were looking for him. The feds were also involved. However, they weren't having much luck.

Logan tracked Toby down in about three hours. He was locked up in the basement of a local crazy woman. She was recently widowed and her own son had just died. In her grief and misery she'd gone looking for a replacement.

The woman cried for a while after Marie knocked on her door and gently asked about the boy. But then the woman let the boy out of the basement and - insanely - made tea for Marie.

Logan stayed outside and kept out of sight. Once he was sure that Marie was safe, he left the area. He never even saw the woman or the boy.

Marie eventually phoned the police. About a dozen officers showed up, armed to the teeth and ready for trouble.

"She's not dangerous," Marie told them quickly.

Toby and the kidnapper told the police their story. Marie didn't really appear in it, except towards the end when she knocked on the woman's door.

Toby and his kidnapper held hands. Then she kissed him on the top of his head before the cops bundled them off to the police station.

"I didn't think we'd find him alive," an older cop said to Marie. He was obviously relieved.

Marie shrugged helplessly. Then she said, "I don't think I'd like to have your job."

"So who are you?" the cop finally asked.

Marie finished her tea. "My name's Marie. I was walking past and saw that little boy in the basement window. Something seemed wrong."

The cop's "something is off here"-sense finally began to kick in. "You're not local, are you? Where are you from?" he asked.

Marie nodded nervously. "I'm from down south and I'm traveling the country. I've been in town for a day or so. I saw the story about Toby on the news and then just happened to spot him."

"You don't look old enough to be traveling on your own," the cop continued slowly.

A female cop with a snub nose, frizzy red-hair, and freckles had drifted over to them. "Honey," she said gently, "do your parents know where you are?"

"I'm older than I look," Marie said as she handed the two police officers her fake driver's license. It claimed that she was eighteen.

The two cops took turns looking at the ID card. Then they gave each other a glance.

Eventually the female officer took the ID from the male officer and handed it back to Marie. Then she pulled a business card from her belt and gave that to Marie as well.

"My name is Gail," she said. "You can find me at the station, or you can call me at the number on that card. If you need help, or even just want to talk, let me know."

Marie knew she'd been given a break. "Thank you," she said quietly.


A reporter from the local paper tracked Marie down that night in yet another bar with complimentary snacks and talked to her. She repeated her story about being a wandering student who just happened to stumble into the situation with Toby.

The next morning, Toby's father found Marie. He was a strange mixture of grateful and suspicious, but gave her two thousand dollars in cash and promised to send a check for the rest. Marie made a snap decision and told him not to bother with the check. Two thousand dollars wasn't ten thousand dollars, but it was enough for the moment and they didn't have a mailing address.

Marie gave Logan half of the money.

"I've got us a room," Marie said. "I need to take a bath. And we both need a good meal - something not from a bar or a gas station."

Logan nodded and pocketed his money. "We can't stick around," he told Marie. "Yeah, the cops gave you a break, but we can't depend on that. Someone in charge might decide you need to be looked at a little closer."

"I'm still taking that shower," Marie said stubbornly.

Logan smiled lopsidedly. "No argument there, but we shouldn't stay the night."


They were waiting at the bus-station, tickets fresh in their hands and hair still wet from the hotel shower, when the cops showed up.

It was Gail, the lady police officer that Marie had met earlier. Logan could tell there were other police officers in the area, but they were trying to be unobtrusive.

"What are you running from?" Gail asked after she sat down next to Marie. She was giving Logan a flint-eyed look.

Marie hesitated before answering. Then she took a deep breath and answered.

"We're just passing through. I know this looks funny, but we aren't crooks."

Gail was still looking at Logan. Marie knew what Gail was thinking.

"It's not like that," Marie told Gail flatly.

Gail tore her gaze away from Logan. "There's somebody I want you to meet," she said to Marie. "He may have some work for you."

Then Gail waved her hand to the crowd in the bus-station. A nondescript man in a nondescript suit broke away from the crowd and walked towards them.

"Hello," he said shortly. He had the 'cop-look' about him that Marie was getting used to seeing.

"This is Sergeant Nichols," Gail added.

"I'm with the Saratoga County Sheriff's office," Nichols said. "Officer Gail here seems to think you might be able to help us with a problem. I hope she's right."

"What kind of problem?" Logan asked abruptly.

Nichols gave Logan a cool look. "A murder."

"It wasn't us," Logan replied stonily.

Gail took off her hat and ran a hand through her shock of tangled red hair. Then she exchanged a disgusted look with Marie. Marie just shook her head in response.

Nichols actually smiled at what Logan had said. "It's a cold case from five years back," he said. "So you aren't suspects. Help us - and if it works out there will be a few bucks in it for you and we won't ask any awkward questions about where you're from and why you're in town."

Logan and Marie exchanged a long look. Marie was mildly surprised that Logan wasn't bristling even more at Nichols.

"Keep talking," Logan finally said.


Logan and Marie were given a ride to a tiny house on the edge of town. Nobody was living there, but Gail had the key and let them inside.

The interior of the house was dusty and still littered with investigative debris. Obviously, nobody had lived there since the murder.

"What's the story?" Logan asked.

"A neighbor heard some shots, but didn't check it out until the next morning," Gail replied. "The woman who lived here was dead."

Logan considered that. "When that sort of thing happens, don't you guys usually look at the dead lady's husband or boyfriend?" he asked.

Gail and Nichols both nodded. "She had a husband and two boyfriends that we know of," Nichols replied in a mildly disgusted tone of voice. "That's part of the problem.".

"How about the neighbor?" Logan asked.

Nichols shrugged. "His name is Chambers. We couldn't find anything on him. I'm not saying he's in the clear, but he's no better or worse of a suspect than anyone else."

"How about the gun?" Logan asked a moment of thought.

Gail shook her head. "We couldn't find it, but forensics said it was a 20 gauge shotgun that was fired three times. The shooter picked up his shells."

"Are the guys who were involved with the dead lady still around?" Logan asked.

Nichols nodded his head. "The husband committed suicide two years later. One of the boyfriends died in a drunken car accident not long after. The third guy is still in town."

Logan nodded.

"We have bus tickets..." Marie said hesitantly.

"We'll get you a refund," Gail promised.

"Let's go for a walk," Logan interrupted. Then he left the house and began heading in the direction of the neighboring house.


Just before they got to the neighbor's house, Logan vanished. They'd cut through a copse of trees that separated the two houses... and suddenly Logan was just gone. Marie tried to hide a smile as Gail and Nichols realized that he was nowhere to be seen and looked around in puzzlement.

Before Gail and Nichols could do anything, the neighbor saw them just as they walked up to the front porch of the house.

Mr. Chambers was a skinny and elderly man with what looked like a permanent scowl on his face. He gave Marie a curious look as Gail and Nichols began asking questions. He became irritable fairly quickly.

"I've talked to you guys about this before," he told them in disgust.

"Sorry, sir," Gail told him. "We're just going over a few details. We do that with older cases."

The questions were desultory and had the feel of having been asked before. Eventually, Gail and Nichols ran dry and began backing away as they said polite goodbyes.

"Sorry to have bothered you," Marie suddenly added. Then she stuck out her hand. Obviously surprised, Chambers shook it. For a moment Marie seemed to waver. Then she smiled wanly.

As they walked back to their cars, Logan suddenly reappeared. A hound-dog was trotting at his side.

Logan gave Marie a worried look. "You didn't need to do that," he told her. "I know he's the killer."

Gail and Nichols gave each other startled looks.

"I thought we should make sure," Marie told Logan. Despite the heat of the day, she'd wrapped her cloak closer around her body.

Logan looked at the two police officers and jerked his head towards Chamber's house. "There's a gun buried in the trees behind his garage," he told them.

Then Logan added, "I saw a gas station just down the road. How about a cup of coffee?"

Before they got back on the road, Logan took a moment to crouch beside the dog and say goodbye. The dog eagerly licked Logan's hands and face.

Nichols seemed surprised. "I remember that dog as being a mean bastard," he said.

"His owner doesn't treat him right," Logan said as he got to his feet.


The police put Marie and Logan up in a hotel that was much nicer than the ones they had been occupying lately. Eventually, Gail took them out to dinner.

"Nichols thinks we're conning you," Logan said in amusement as he sipped a beer. "He's just not sure how we're doing it."

"He's not the only one," Gail sighed.

"How soon until you can dig up that gun?" Marie asked.

"It's already done," Gail said with a shrug. "We got a warrant right after we got back to the station. A lot of favors were called in since we didn't exactly have a solid case. The DA will have my hide if this doesn't work out. And then we'll probably get our asses sued off and I'll lose my job."

"He did it," Marie said quietly as she put down her fork. She had been picking at her food.

Gail gave Marie a long look. Marie didn't react.

Eventually, Logan finished his beer and took off. Gail's eyes followed Logan as he left.

"So tell me about him," Gail asked quietly.

"He's saved my life - more than once," Marie replied.

And he almost killed me once, she didn't say.

"He's one hell of an attractive man," Gail continued.

Marie shook her head. "Like I said before, it isn't like that. But if he ever does ask, the answer is 'yes'."

"Maybe you should put that off for a while," Gail suggested carefully. "You might want to do a little growing up first."

Marie smiled for the first time since she'd shook a murderer's hand. "I'm not sure that's ever going to happen. He seems to think I'm his kid sister."

Gail nodded and then decided it was time to change the subject. "You know, for two people who act like you're on the run, you sure seem to draw a lot of attention. Now I'm not gonna do it, but it's just a matter of time until somebody decides to check on both of you. Hell, Nichols might be doing that right now."

Marie nodded. "Are you telling us to get out of town?"

"A lot depends on what you're running from."

"We haven't hurt anyone. Well... not much."

Gail held up a hand. "Careful, sweetie. You don't want to say something that I won't be able to ignore."

Marie paused. Then she nodded her head and shut up.


The next morning, Gail met them at the bus station. The neighbor's dog was with Logan and Marie. He had a new collar and was gnawing on a by-then unidentifiable dog treat. He perked up and wagged his tail when he saw Gail.

"His name's Jake," Logan told Gail. "We don't think anyone else will take care of him."

Gail nodded, leaned over, and scratched Jake behind his ears. Then she straightened up and looked at Logan and Marie.

"We picked up Chambers last night," Gail told them. "He confessed when we told him we had the gun."

Marie didn't say anything in response, but Logan seemed satisfied. Gail finally recognized the look on Logan's face. Her father and brothers were life-long hunters - and so was Gail. And Logan had the look of someone who'd just brought down a sixteen-point buck.

He'd make a good cop, Gail thought to herself. That actually surprised her. No, Logan wouldn't be very good at the human part of being a police officer, but he would be fantastic at tracking down criminals. He'd already proved that.

"Nichols just couldn't help himself," Gail continued. "He ran a priors check on you two. But you aren't in the system. At least for now, it looks like you're in the clear. I'm gonna suggest you keep it that way."

"Nichols told you that?" Logan asked suspiciously.

Gail smiled. "No. A guy who works with Nichols told me that. He's a nice guy - and he's been trying to get into my pants for quite a while."

Logan rumbled out a chuckle. "So is your friend going to get lucky anytime soon?"

"We'll see," Gail replied with a straight face. "Right now, the odds are in his favor."

Then Gail handed them an envelope. "This is the petty cash from the local departments. We also passed the hat and just about everyone pitched in. Even Nichols donated a hundred bucks. I wish it was more but not only do you two not have a criminal record - you don't have any kind of record at all. That means we can't pay you an actual consultant's fee. God knows how you're going to pay taxes."

"We plan on going somewhere that's mostly cash-and-carry," Marie told Gail.

The bus that would take them north started its engine as a barely intelligible announcement came over the station loud-speaker. The people waiting in the station began gathering up kids and luggage. Gail took the time to lean into the bus and tell the bus-driver that Logan and Marie's dog was a service animal who's paperwork was pending. Then she stepped back and watched as Logan, Marie, and the dog boarded the bus.

As the bus pulled away, Marie and Gail waved to each other.

"Good luck," Gail whispered.


After a few hours, Marie and Jake huddled up together in their seat and dozed off. Marie was getting good at keeping her cloak between herself and Jake. She didn't want to hurt him.

Meanwhile, Logan silently stared off into the distance. The plan was to drift north - so it seemed that Marie would finally get to see Alaska after all. They'd eventually settle in somewhere and Logan would put together the cash for a new pickup and perhaps a new motorcycle. Then they would wander the edge of civilization together. He'd stick with Marie until she got tired of traveling. She was young and he was sure she would eventually find a man who was more her age. Logan assumed that he would eventually become a third wheel and he'd wander away once he was sure that Marie was safe.

If nothing else, Logan was a realist. But he had blind spots. It just didn't occur to him that Marie might have her own plans for the two of them.

Looking down at Marie, Logan smiled and carefully ran his fingers through her hair.

For some reason, Marie was also smiling.