Cliff hurriedly packed his suitcase. He had to get out of town. Marie was never supposed to end up in the hospital. She was only supposed to tell him where she had gone that day she had betrayed him. He sighed. Perhaps betray was the wrong word. He should use disobeyed.

There was nothing wrong with his method of marital discipline. It was the same method his father used on his mother and later the method he used on him. Marie was just too stubborn to give in to his demands. Now that Superman made his little rescue and Lois and Clark Kent got involved, along with Peter and Mary Jane Parker, Jean and Scott Sommers and the rest of Xavier's employees, he would undoubtedly be faced with legal action.

When the doorbell rang at the Welmont mansion, part of Cliff believed the police were all ready there to arrest him. Another part of Cliff believed it was the police and not Logan. If it were Logan, he'd surely face his death.

Logan vowed to be smart about this. He pulled Scott's bike into Cliff's driveway and called the police. Then he got out of his car and rang the bell.

At first Logan didn't think Cliff would have the nerve to answer the door. He had to know it was either him or the police. Cliff did answer the door however after two rings.

"I was expecting you," he said in way of greeting.

Logan was never one for words. He settled his cause with skin and metal. He reached back and landed a right cross. "Were you expecting that?"

Cliff pulled himself up. He regretted the mistake people believed he had made with his wife, but she was his wife.

"I should have been," he replied. "The fact remains Marie is my wife. She's mine, to do with as I see fit."

Logan closed on Cliff and hit him again. "She's still a person," he growled. "You treated her like an animal." He hit Cliff again. "I should lock you in a room, and starve you near to death. See how you like it."

"I didn't mind it," Cliff replied. "How would you now anyway?"

Cliff didn't make sense there. So, Logan hit him again. He didn't only want to hit him, he wanted to kill him. That's why he called the police, to give himself some restraint.

"I only want one kind of explanation from you," Logan snarled. "Why did you do that to Marie?"

"She disobeyed me," Cliff replied haughtily, too haughtily for someone being knocked around by an irate Wolverine.

"She…She's not suppose to obey you," he snapped. "She's supposed to be your partner you son of a bitch," Logan shouted. "How dare you even think…"

Cliff got up from the floor. He wasn't dumb enough to fight the Wolverine, so he retreated.

"I married Marie. She's mine not yours!" Cliff shouted angrily, his limited reason fleeing as his temper rose.

"She's not anyone's," Logan countered, shoving Cliff into the curio cabinet. "She's a person, not cattle."

"She's a …" Cliff couldn't speak again from a moment, because Logan was shouting.

"She's a what? What?" he shouted.

"She's a whore!" Cliff hissed, before he felt a hand tighter than a steel band around his neck. He couldn't breath; Logan was choking the life out of him.

The sirens sounded signaling the arrival of the police. Logan let Cliff go free. Cliff slipped to the ground gasping for air.

"There he is," Logan directed the officers to Cliff. "His wife's name in Marie Welmont. I'm sure she'll be pressing charges."

"Yes, Sir. A complaint has been filed," the first officer replied.

"Why is he bleeding?" asked the second.

"He had a difficult time grasping the concept that he must never, ever go near Marie again," Logan growled in warning. "If he does, you'll be here to arrest me." With that Logan left Cliff to the police and returned to Marie.

The hospital had cleared out except for Jean, Ororo, and Scott when Logan returned.

"Hey, Cyke," Logan greeted. "You finally made it, huh?"

"No thanks to you," he replied with no real recrimination in his voice. He understood Logan's fear.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Logan apologized half heartedly.

"No problem," Scott replied.

"How is she?" he asked Jean.

"She's sleeping now," Jean replied. "Her medicine is wearing off. She's in some pain."

"Can I…" he asked tentatively.

"Sure. Just be gentle if you touch her," Jean advised.

Logan moved to Marie's door then stopped. "Something about this still bother me. Why didn't she say anything? Why didn't she tell someone? All she had to do was say 'Jean' or 'Ro, my husband beats me up. Please help me.'"

Jean frowned. "I know why she didn't say anything to you or to Ro, but she could have talked to me."

Scott kissed her brow. "But she didn't. All we can do now is help her recover, not speculate." He pointedly looked at Logan who left for Marie's room again once Scott spoke.

Marie was asleep still when he entered the room and sat on the chair beside her bed. "Hey, Baby. I'm back," he murmured.

"Hi," she slurred, her eyese fluttering open. "Where were you?"

"I had business," he replied.

"Ah. What did you do to him?" she asked knowingly.

"Let's just say he's been warned and he'd going away for a long time," Logan replied. "You'll press charges and we'll get you a divorce on ground of physical cruelty," he told her gently caressing her bruised cheek. "It'll be all right."

Marie smiled. "Logan, I'm so sorry," she told him after a minute.

"Hush. You made a mistake. I made my share. By far, the worst one was leaving you two years ago," Logan admitted. "I knew then that your were in love with me. I knew I loved you too. But I was scared."

"Imagine the Wolverine scared," she teased. "Scared of what?" More serious.

"Scared of what I didn't know. What that could mean for you," he replied. "If I only knew…"

"Logan, you couldn't know," she soothed. "You can't worry about what if now only what is now."

"Ah, Darling, how can you be so wonderful, so forgiving?" Logan asked.

"Because there's nothing to forgive that Ii haven't all ready. I love you, Logan. Even with Cliff it was you I loved," Marie admitted.

"I love you too," Logan replied kissing her cheek. "I ain't good at saying it though."

"It can go unsaid," she replied. "But not undone."

"Never undone," he answered with a gentle kiss. "Never."

The End

A/N: There will be an epilogue.