Disclaimer: Not mine, just playin' with 'em. Suing me would be completely pointless as I have no money but many ferrets………..

: Telepathic communication. I'm sure you would guess that, but hey…….

Feedback: Oh, God, yes. Pretty, pretty please. Pretty please with naked Wolvies on top?! Either on here or to andreaslaymaker@hotmail.com. But please be nice – this is my VERY FIRST fic and I have no beta!! (Any and all offers gladly and gratefully received…..!)

Big, whiskery werewolf kisses for those who have reviewed so far. Thanks, guys!

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Chap 6

*

Almost Home

*

Their first motel stop.

"Put some clothes on."

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

Later -

"What's this?"

"Soap."

"And?"

"Shower. Over there. Use it."

"How?"

Oh brother. This was going to be a longer trip than even he had thought.

Much later still -

"Your bed's that one."

"Ugh!"

"Get under the covers."

"No way!"

"Do as you damn you well please, then. Goodnight!"

Logan woke up some time later, feeling a great weight on his legs. Looking down, he saw Smoke in her animal form curled up next to his legs on the bed. He had to smile; a man and his wolf, a wolf and her man. He reached down and gently stroked her furry ears, noticing for the first time how soft they were. She snorted quietly, and snuggled closer to his legs. He laid back down in the dark, realising how pleasant the sensation was; ah well, he thought as he slipped slowly back to sleep, at least she smells better now.

*

Back on the road at first light. For once, he had persuaded Smoke to ride in the front, wearing - miracle of miracles - clothing; it was only the sweats, but hey, it was a start. She had relaxed so much in his company over the last four days and nights that he figured it might be time to draw a few more things out of her about her recent past.

Like her accent, for example. He had noticed something odd about it the first time she spoke to him, to beg for her freedom; it had taken time to identify it as he had initially figured that if you hadn't spoken for four years, you'd be bound to sound a little funky. Right? Then he'd realised what it really was.

"So, how come a Brit winds up in the Canadian mountains anyway?" He asked, not ever having been noted for his subtlety.

"You know?" She asked, eyes widening. She began to shift in her seat.

"Yeah, I know. And don't try to shift shape in here!" He popped his claws and waved them under her nose. Distracted, she cocked her head to look at them, then tentatively raised her hand to touch them.

"Does that hurt, when you do that?" she asked softly. He withdrew them and absently rubbed his knuckles.

"Every time" he replied quietly. Whoa. Wolverine deja vue…only one other person had ever asked him that. The fact that Smoke was the second unnerved him slightly.

"Quit changing the subject" he muttered eventually. She was quiet for a minute, then finally spoke.

"My parents discovered I had this…ability. We came to Alaska for help. I didn't like it. I ran away. End of story." She was staring fixedly out to the front, and the scent Logan was picking up warned him off pushing her further. He could smell fear - lots of that - but it was the other, slighter fainter one that caused him to worry. Until now, he hadn't really realised that madness - true, wild insanity - had a bitter smell all of it's own. Call it mental illness, call it depression-with-psychotic-episodes, call it curable, call it what you will, but she was holding it back by sheer effort of will. Tough, aintcha? He thought quietly. Before his reasoning side had a chance to mull this over thoroughly, his animal-self took steps to ease the situation. (Move over, asshole!) He gave a gentle, deep rumble from his chest, and stroked her hand where it was clenched, white knuckled, over her drawn up knees. He felt her relax slightly, and the trembling he had felt in her slowed and finally stopped. Change the subject, Logan.

"Hey" he said, more brightly than he had intended, "we'll be there tomorrow. You'll like the people. They're OK. Be company for you, huh?"

She tilted her head at him, narrowed her eyes slightly and seemed to come to a decision.

"Tell me about them" she asked softly.

So he talked. After a couple of hours, he was surprised to find that he had barely scratched the surface; after four, he was getting a sore throat. At six hours, Smoke gently touched his hand, interrupting his steady flow.

"You love her, don't you?" she asked, with a strangely soft expression on her face. Logan was stuck. On the one hand, he was delighted that she had touched him; it was the first time she had reached out since he caught that first whiff of her in the forest. He felt this could be important. Like, life saving important.

On the other hand, he was pretty mortified that someone who had forgotten how to talk, fer fuck's sake, had figured out how he felt for Marie. Oops. Bad Logan. Giving the game away like that.

"She's a friend, that's all - right?" he rapped back, a little more sharply than he had intended.

"You don't smell like it"

Logan glared at her until she dropped her eyes, sweeping her long black lashes down to cover them. Even so, he saw that she had a small smile playing around the corners of her mouth. He slumped lower in his seat, chewed on a fresh cigar, and glared at the road ahead as if it was personally responsible for this.

*

Eventually, keen as he was to get to the mansion, even Logan admitted that stopping for a few hours rest was a good idea. Picking a tiny, ramshackle motel, he bade his companion stay in the vehicle while he climbed out and sorted the room out. According to their routine, she would stay huddled in the car until he came back for her, then press herself close to him while he led her to the room.

Despite all his encouragement, she hadn't eaten anything yet, and still spent every night curled up on the end of his bed in her wild form.

Unlike every other night, however, this time when he returned to the vehicle she was gone.

*

They were out here somewhere.

Her sense of smell - at least as sensitive as his, and more finely tuned at the moment - had detected them as soon as they had pulled up. She had been very surprised that HE couldn't detect them; and disturbed to think that he could, and didn't care.

Through the fog of stinks and sticking to the shadows she sought the other creatures she had detected, moving like the substance that had prompted her father to laughingly give her the nickname she now wore as identity. Don't think of that! Focus. Focus. Over there.

Their suffering was palpable in their smell.

Two large dogs, chained up in a tiny yard. No water. No food. Smell of defeat. Smell of violence. Smell of pain.

Pain in her head.

She flipped forms almost absently; the two dogs sat up warily, eyeing the stranger. She was new to them; their normal reaction would have been to roar with rage and attack but somehow…they didn't want to. She was in their heads, gently soothing hurts and calming fear, rage…all the things their brutal man had put in their heads. She brushed lightly over their memories, looking at the different ways they had been treated; cute puppies indulged. Discarded as adolescents. Passing from hand to hand, each one more brutal than the last - and finally to here. The end of their road. Unless she did something about it.

Moving closer, she freed them both from their heavy, ill fitting collars that had cut so savagely into the skin and coat of the neck. She didn't realise that she wept as her hands struggled with the stiff buckles; the nearest dog whined gently and licked her face. When they were freed, she held them briefly, then flipped back to her wild form. In her confused brain, she had decided that if HE watched over her and gave her water, he would surely help these two. So thinking, she followed her nose and led the two rangy crossbreeds back to where she had left HIS vehicle.

*

When Logan - standing at the door to their room and swearing sulphurously to himself - spotted the figure of Smoke wending her way through the shadows toward him, he was relieved. Sort of. In a now-I'm-gonna-whup-your-ass sort of a way.

When he spotted her companions trotting along behind her, he groaned quietly and bit right through his cigar.

I knew this was gonna happen. I knew those dogs were chained up, but I did think she'd have more sense. I can see it now; Xavier's school for the Gifted and every beaten Mutt across the State. God.

Now what do I do?

When she came closer, he simply hissed "inside!" at her. When she (and two large, smelly hounds) were far enough in for him to shut the door, he slammed it, locked it, and leaned back on it, effectively barring it.

"Change back. Now." He was so angry, he didn't even turn away as the grinding transformation unfolded before him.

"I couldn't leave them there!" she wailed, wringing her hands as he glared at her, "They'd die!"

A pause. He looked at her tear streaked, anxious face and all the anger drained out of him; how could he be mad at someone who had a heart big enough for the whole world, or at least that part of it on four legs with fur? But he had to nip this in the bud or they'd never get home.

"Darlin'" he sighed, "tell your friends to go. They can't come with us. I understand - "

"You don't!" she wailed.

"- that you feel you can do something for them, but this is as far as it goes. Let 'em go. They'll have to take their chances."

Seeing her clutch the necks of the dogs and sobbing her heart out tore at Logan's conscience. But what could he do? They were so nearly home. (There's that word again, bub. We must talk about that one of these days.)

He stepped back, and opened the door. After one last, racking sob, she looked into the eyes of each of the animals in turn. Without a whimper, they quietly moved past Logan, and disappeared into the night.

"Ok girl, go shower. It's late, and we've got an early start in the morning."

She didn't argue. She just picked up the small bag containing soap and shampoo, and went into the bathroom. What hurt Logan the most, though, was the look of betrayal in her eyes, and the waves of disappointment he could feel radiating out from her. And things had been going so well……