Saints and Sinners – By Darlin

A/N – For anyone who might not know what Sponge Monkeys are be very glad that you're in the dark and hope you remain so.  But, alas, since I was asked what they are I shall describe them as briefly as possible.  They're funky looking creatures something akin to rats in hats with horrendous teeth, mostly gums, that Quizno's uses as a very odd and somewhat disgusting mascot.  Very unappetizing and quite bizarre.  On to the thank you's! 

Thanks for reviewing: Dark Topaz, Isis Aurora Tomoe, LilWolvie, Orlimoon, Shadowface, and xmenloganfan. I appreciate them very much!  I hope I'm updating fast enough – I am definitely trying to be better.

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Chapter Seven – A Real Date

Another day, another dollar is the old saying but since the X-Men weren't really paid a salary this wouldn't quite apply here, never the less another day had arrived and everyone seemed to be in poor spirits. That is everyone except for Hank. For the past month Hank had been working on a secret project that had first been something he had enjoyed bragging about to Ororo but now it had become something that he hoped would win back her respect for him. Not only had he come up with a brilliant idea that would benefit all of the X-Men and one that the Professor greatly approved of but he thought it was the perfect way to show Ororo what type of man he really was. So it was with great anticipation that Hank pounced, literally, upon the somewhat cranky Ororo as she made her way down to the kitchen for lunch.

"What're you trying to do, Hank? You scared the living crap out of me!" Ororo complained when she caught her breath.

"I'm sorry," Hank apologized.

"What is it now?" Ororo asked. "What do you want?"

"I wonder if I might have a word with you – it won't take but a few minutes."

"If it's about us then no."

Hank's crestfallen face was almost enough to make Ororo change her mind but then he seemed to rebound and the look he always had when he'd just made some new discovery – one of sheer bliss – shone on his face.

"It's my project – I finished it and I'd like you to see."

"Oh? Well I'm . . ."

"Just a few minutes of your time is all I'm asking for, Ororo," Hank said with a hopeful smile.

Guilt washed over Ororo and she nodded letting him lead the way. They went down into the basement which was mostly a long hallway with a series of doors along the walls. Passing up several doors Hank finally chose one and entered a code on the keypad that was on the wall beside it. Stepping inside Ororo saw nothing but stainless steel lined walls. The room was larger than she would have thought it could possibly be but it still gave her the creeps. She hated being underground and she hated enclosed spaces even more.

"It's called the Danger Room," Hank enthused; completely unaware of how little she was impressed. "This is where we'll practice our powers. The walls are made out of adamantium and in the control tower I can manipulate any manner of fire power at varying levels to test our skills and hone our talents. Let me show you the control tower."

Hank once again pressed in a code on a keypad along side the door and Ororo heard the sound of large doors sliding open. She looked up to see a glass encased room appear as the adamantium sheeting slid apart a floor above them. It didn't make any sense to her how a second story to the basement could have been added but while she was trying to figure it out Hank continued spouting the benefits of his new and wonderful Danger Room.

Finally Ororo interrupted him and asked, "You did all this by yourself?"

"Oh, well I designed it but I had help setting it up. The Professor located a mutant who has the ability to make anything his mind can envisage. He's a fascinating young man – I think you'd like him – his name is Forge."

"Oh." She didn't know what else to say.

"He thinks we can develop this even more once we're able to build an addition to the main house. It's really amazing how he came up with the idea for the observation room. Would you like to go up and see the controls?"

"Well, I'm a little hungry. I haven't eaten all day. Maybe another time okay?"

"Okay! Great. Yeah, that would be great."

"All right. Well, I'll see you then."

"But what do you think, Ororo?"

"Huh? Oh. Well . . . this is just amazing – like you said. You're just too brilliant for me, Hank!"

"Oh not at all, you're . . . well . . ."

"Before you put your foot in your mouth I better just go, okay?"

"But you will come back?"

"Yes, I'll come back."

Hank nodded happily and Ororo went up to help with lunch. It took Hank awhile before he too ventured up to eat but when he entered the kitchen all his happiness seeped out of him. Ororo and Logan weren't doing anything out of the norm they were just making lunch together but it was something that Hank had never seen Logan do before and it irked him beyond words. They were only talking but Ororo was smiling and laughing, something she'd seldom done with him when they'd been together.

His initial reaction was to pummel Logan to a pulp but his quick intelligence immediately came up with a better plan. Feeling better he gathered his wits about him and grinned with grim satisfaction. It wouldn't be long before he'd have Ororo back, he thought, and Logan would be just an unpleasant memory soon to be forgotten forever. Yes, he told himself as he backed out of the kitchen, revenge is sweet indeed.

It was an innocent conversation that Ororo and Logan were having when Hank had seen them but if he had stayed to listen further he would have been twice as angry and ready to forgo his on the spur of the minute but wonderfully well thought out plan and beat the daylights out of Logan.

"So you wanna go out sometime?" Logan asked Ororo as he stirred a bowl of something that he had no idea what it was.

"Go out as in a date . . . with you?"

"Yeah."

"Are you serious?"

"Dead."

"I don't know . . ." she murmured wondering where this was coming from.

"Well before you go into that 'I'm not Jean' spiel of yours try a little spontaneity and say yes and we'll have some fun. I'll take you to that restaurant you like so much."

"French food?"

"I don't have anything against the French."

"You . . . like French food?"

"Willin' to try anything once, darlin'."

It was hard to know where Logan was coming from most of the time but Ororo didn't care right now. She was tired of going out to eat by herself. It could get old after awhile. It reminded her of all the times she and Jean had gone out and eaten or gone shopping together before Logan's arrival. Besides, what harm could eating together do?

"Okay I guess."

"Tonight?"

"Tonight?"

"Then it's a date."

"But I didn't say . . ."

"Wear that little flowered dress you got – the little short one that you got a few weeks ago."

Ororo wasn't sure she'd heard him right. A man had actually noticed a dress that she'd purchased, a dress she'd bought several weeks ago even? Such a thing was so unheard of that hearing it from Logan was almost frightening.

"What? What'd I do now?"

"Nothing it's just that – what dress are you talking about?" she asked.

"That little white number with pink and purple flowers – it spins out when you spin around."

"Oh." Now she remembered. "O-okay."

This put a new spin on things, Ororo thought as they finished making lunch without further conversation. How did you take a man who remembered a dress in such detail? Was he in touch with his feminine side or was he showing his stalker side? She decided she'd need to give this new development a lot of consideration prior to their 'date'.

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Kitty plopped down onto Ororo's bed while she waited for Ororo to get ready. She noticed that there was only one dress hanging from a pretty pink hanger on the closet door instead of the dozen or so outfits that she usually had tossed all over her room whenever she was getting ready for a date with Hank. She could use a redder lipstick and sexier lingerie; Kitty thought and wondered what Ororo was doing. It looked as if she was getting ready for a trip to the mall and nothing more. As Ororo picked up the dress and slid it over her head Kitty rolled onto her stomach kicking her legs up into the air and crossing her feet.

"Do you like him?" Kitty asked as she began to move her feet side to side in time with the beat of a CD that was playing.

"Like who?"

"Duh – you know who I'm talking about!"

"Why would you ask me that?"

"Well duh – like aren't you going out with him tonight?"

"It's just to eat dinner."

"I.E. date. Do you like him or not?"

"He's okay I guess."

"You gotta admit he's cute in a rugged way."
"You think every guy here's cute," Ororo laughed.

"Not as cute as Peter," Kitty said. "So?"

"Logan's okay looking – in a rough kind of way you know?"

"Nope, not really. I think Logan's handsome in that kinda cowboyish Return of the King kinda way."

"Oh man, you are so crazy, Kitty!" Ororo laughed. "'Cowboyish' yeah but he's nothing like Aragorn."

"Maybe like the Duke in Kate and Leopold?" Kitty suggested.

"No," Ororo shook her head resolutely. "He's more like – well I don't know. I can't think of any actor that could do him justice. I mean he's all attitude, full of muscles, and he's old . . ."

"Very old," Kitty said solemnly, her voice soft and mystical before she laughed.

Ororo's rolled her eyes then asked, "So how're things going with you and Petey, eh?"

Kitty blushed prettily and bit her lip. "We're just friends."

"Uh huh. Just friends. I've heard that before."

"Yeah, like you an' Logan."

"This is where I should say 'touché' but it ain't happenin' 'cause me an' Logan are nothing like you an' Peter. You've had a crush on Peter ever since he got here but Logan? He's not like a normal guy, you can't think of him the same way you would Peter or Scott. I don't even have words to describe him."

"Do you think he's really changed?"

"What do you think?"

"Yeah. I mean, if he still wanted to kill us I'da been the first one he could've offed an' he wouldn't have even had to do anything."

"I didn't think about that but I guess you're right. That's got to count for something." Then changing the subject Ororo asked, "Do you like this on me? Does it make me look too fat you think? I mean it's really tight – do you think I should wear something else?"

"I like it. It's pretty and it's nice and tight in all the right places. Where'd you get it from?"

"Oh no! You will not be buying anything like this not even anything remotely like this. Sometimes I think you forget how old you are, Kitten."

"Can I try it on sometime maybe?"

"Sure."

Ororo spun around in front of her white-framed cheval mirror and admired the way the dress flew out around her hips. It did show off her body perfectly she thought and the colors looked nice with her brown skin. She pulled herself away from the mirror and looked through her large selection of shoes, decided against heels, and finally slipped on a pair of low heeled white sandals. She started to put her hair up in her usual ponytail but decided against it and shook out her hair instead and ran a brush through it. Finally satisfied with the results she grabbed a small straw purse shaped like a miniature pagoda and stuffed her mobile phone, her wallet, and a compact in it.

"You look like a fairy tale princess," Kitty said without a drop of envy in her voice. "Do you think Peter will ever ask me out?"

"When you're older."

"How much older do I have to be?"

"Just older."

"You're no help."

A knock at the door silenced the two. They looked at each other trying not to giggle. Ororo inhaled deeply then exhaled slowly swallowing nervously. Opening the door she saw Logan standing before her dressed in a black suit with a black shirt and black tie on. She was more than surprised – flabbergasted would have been an understatement.

"Hey, half pint – you ready, Ro?"

"Yes."

"You look great."

"So do you," Ororo replied.

"You two have fun," Kitty cried as she jumped off the bed and waved from the door.

A date. A real date. These thoughts kept going around and around Ororo's head as they drove into the city. She felt weird. She felt excited and happy but also incredibly weird. She knew she shouldn't be going out with Logan – knew he was the last person in their little group that she should even be associating with. She kept remembering all the nights she'd slept with her knife under her pillow and she felt even odder. He sure looked good though, she thought and with that thought she knew she'd definitely made a mistake.

It probably would've helped her if she could have heard Logan's thoughts or at least some of them. He kept thinking how hot she looked – too hot were his exact thoughts. She was enticing and sexy and she didn't even know it, which turned him on even more. He liked that. He liked everything about her. He knew he shouldn't. He knew he didn't stand a chance with her even if he'd wanted to get serious which he didn't. He also knew Hank was a problem that he'd have to fix if he wanted to go out with her again and he kind of thought he might.

He liked being around her. He was incredibly attracted to her and it was more than physically, which was a first for him. Strangely he could even admit that he wanted something more than an on again off again friendship with friendly banter in between their weekly get-togethers. He just wasn't ready for anything serious and he knew Ororo would require more than he could give her. She wasn't like any of the other women he'd been with. No one had ever expected anything serious from him or if they had they'd never told him. He wondered what it would be like to really date Ororo and be together as a couple. His eyes grew large as he realized what he'd just been thinking and he tried to shake the crazy thought from his head. He realized as he parked as near to D'Artagnan as he could that asking Ororo out had been a big mistake.

He hadn't taken many women out and he'd never taken Jean anywhere. With a silent curse it occurred to him that this was the first time that he'd thought about Jean in a few weeks. Now thinking about their abysmal relationship made him shudder. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but it doesn't make the bad stuff go away, he thought as he opened the door to the SUV for Ororo.

D'Artagnan is a small cozy little restaurant in midtown Manhattan that serves up delicious and sinfully rich but incredibly wholesome food. Ororo was surprised that they were seated immediately. She didn't know that Logan had immediately called for reservations after lunch. She was again surprised when Logan pulled her seat out for her rather than let the waiter do it and she thanked him quietly. After the waiter left she quickly hid her face behind the menu.

This wasn't what she'd expected at all, she thought. He was being all gentlemanly and chivalrous – too much so in fact. It scared her. She couldn't admit to herself that it also made her feel giddy in a way she'd never felt with Hank. It had been a long time since a man had taken her out and treated her like she deserved. She didn't blame Hank and knew he disliked being in public with his drastic mutation but sometimes a girl just needed to get out. She sighed as she thought about all the arguments she and Hank used to have and she wondered when did they ever have fun?

"Having fun yet?" Logan asked as he pushed her menu down so he could see her face.

"No," she laughed.

"After we eat I'll have to fix that."

"Oh ho! And how do you plan on doing that?"

"I got my ways."

What have I gotten myself into; she thought and covered her face with the menu again.

Dinner was superb. There was no other way to describe it. If Ororo thought a large bucket of buttered popcorn would make her fat she didn't let the foie gras and mousse bother her one whit. She ate like a champion. Logan watched her wolf down her food and wondered why he'd never seen any of his other dates eat like they actually had an appetite.

"You must've had a hard life," he commented.

Ororo looked up from her meal.

"Not particularly."

She was unsure what he was talking about. She was unsure what they were doing.

"From what I can remember this is the first time I've ever had anything remotely like a normal life."

"Not even with Magneto?"

Ororo closed her eyes and groaned inwardly for a split second, sorry that she'd gone there. Logan's pleasant demeanor vanished. They ate in silence for the rest of the meal but for some reason Ororo's appetite was gone. She was glad when he finally flagged the waiter down so they could go. It satisfied her greatly as Logan left a large and rightfully earned tip and though they left the restaurant without speaking she felt better after seeing that. Hank was a poor tipper but then again neither of them had their own money and she knew Hank was frugal with the Professor's allowance more than anything.

"Look, I'm sorry I said that in there – about Magneto."

"Why? You had every right."

She had no reply for that so she kept quiet.

"I've made a lot of mistakes in my life but that was the stupidest."

"Mine was dating Hank."

They laughed together and suddenly the chill that had come between them seemed to vanish. Logan didn't lead her to the SUV but instead started walking down Forty-sixth Street.

"Where're we going?"

"Times Square."

"But that'll take forever."

"Not if you fly us there."

"Um, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not? It ain't like no one knows you're a mutant what with all of our pictures in the news and everything."

"Hold on then," she laughed needing no further encouragement.

"Hold on to what?"

"Me, dummy."

"If you say so," Logan said. He wrapped his arms around her waist with slow deliberation and they stood staring at each other nearly at eye level.

It was suddenly hard to breath and Ororo had to close her eyes in order to concentrate. Momentarily they were lifted up into the air with a wind that swept them out over the busy city.

"I'm not used to doing this with anyone," Ororo said.

"You gonna be okay? I'm I too heavy?"

"I'm fine. How 'bout you?"

"I'm good."

"Well you can let go of me now – just hold my hand, we'll get there a lot faster that way."

"What if I don't want to let go?"

The look of alarm on Ororo's face made Logan laugh.

"Calm down – I was only kidding," he lied easily.

"Good," she lied just as easily.

Before long they were within sight of Times Square and Ororo brought them down as inconspicuously as she could which wasn't very much. Fortunately New Yorkers were quite seasoned what with the many super heroes running around the city lately and few even bothered to look twice and they ignored the few negative expletives and shouts of 'freaks' 'muties' that were shouted at them. Logan took Ororo's hand and they strolled down the avenue. In that moment of brief notoriety Ororo felt a connection with Logan and as they walked along she grew more comfortable even with his strong hand gripping hers. Maybe it was because of animosity that they'd encountered but she did nothing to remove her hand.

It wasn't long before they found that they'd walked all the way to Central Park. Logan led her up to a horse and carriage and without a word thrust a wad of money into the driver's hand then helped Ororo up. She was secretly impressed and a little thrilled to be treated as if this was a real date and all she could do was smile at him, at the driver, and at the people that they passed as the horse began its slow trek through the park.

They didn't talk as they rode but neither of them cared. Eventually Logan stretched his arm along the back of the seat and finally after a little while, without thinking about it, he dropped his arm around her shoulders. Ororo would have normally laughed at such a stunt but she was feeling so good that all she did was smile to herself instead. This was a real date, she told herself for the umpteenth time but this time she didn't feel weird. She was happy. She looked up at the stars and the moon, a slim crescent in the velvety night sky, and she felt so much happiness that it almost scared her but she didn't let it. I like him, she thought. I like him a lot – what am I doing? Logan looked down at her snowy hair and peaceful, sweet face and wondered the same thing.

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A/N – I wanted to mention that I am not a Beast hater or even a Jean hater. I actually love Hank but the Ultimate Hank is a little overbearing and somewhat stupid which I rather dislike and the Ultimate Jean, well she's a not the typical got your act together Jean that we all know and love. No matter, it's fun to play around with them this way. ;D