(Four)

Logan passed Valentin who stood silently grinning in the doorway of the barracks, the First General had clearly witnessed Kimble's beating with real pleasure. Joseph and Bruce were behind him. Talk about trouble waiting for a place to happen. Logan tried to ignore them and went into the cage. He knocked on Fallen's lav door. Of course she didn't answer.

"Fallen, open this door or I'll cut it down!"

She opened it and turned away without looking at him. She stood with her back to him facing the bathtub in a deliberate show of defiance. She had a bloody towel in her hand but her nose had stopped bleeding. "What do you want?" she snapped.

"Are ya all right?"

"I'm fine," she said, not moving.

Logan looked at her defiant back and smiled to himself. She really was fearless. And every inch the pain in the ass he'd figured she be. "Just lettin' you know that the bullshit is gonna stop."

She turned back to face him, an icy smile on her lips. "Are you taking over, little man?" She took a step towards him and pushed him back a bit with her telekinesis, just enough to let him know it was there and that she'd use it. "I think not. I've spent the last ten years being pushed around by bigger pricks than you. You don't scare me."

Logan grinned, he couldn't help himself. These spirited women did it to him every time. "I don't wanna fight you, girl. What I want is a little less arguin' and a lot more of us gettin' outta here. Seems ta me if we'd put in as much energy inta gettin' outta here as we have inta all of this fightin' we'd all be home by now."

Her smile thawed a bit. "You're right, of course." She backed off and sat down on the commode, looking at him.

He saw past her brave front to the sick, frail woman behind it and his anger cooled. "What did you think you were doing?"

"I'd just like to get through this shit with Valentin. There will be no peace until this is settled. I should have realized the extent of his devotion," she said sarcastically. "The negotiations will take some time."

"Time and energy best spent on gettin us home. Plenty of time to argue there. Prob'ly safer, too. Let us help you. We can watch your back. Right now, you need to rest. If you can't do that, at least spend the time doin' somethin' more constructive. We still got two engines down last time I checked. Kimble's done some work, but he's nowhere near finished. It's worse than he thought. He could really use the help."

"I'm not sure how much I can do. The bigger repairs will take Ristle," she explained. "I use it like welders do. I have to wait until my levels are higher. Probably sometime tomorrow." She held him with her pale blue eyes, strong again. "I want to get out of here just as much as you do, Wolverine. I'm not holding anything back from you. When I am ready, I'll get you home."

"I'm sure you will. Until then, I want-- I'm askin' -- that you stay away from Valentin. Me an' the guys'll look after him and the gang."

Her smile finally warmed. It changed the whole look of her face. She seemed much younger, not so tired. "All right, Mr. Wolverine, sir. Whatever you say," she teased, not trying to antagonize him.

He grunted, grinning. "Right, then. Now. Are you really okay? You need anything?"

"I'm fine. Please return my Siskan, if you don't mind. He'll be less trouble with me."

"I doubt that, but I'll send him back just t' keep from lookin' at him," he grumbled good naturedly and turned to go.

"What is it about him that disturbs you so?" Fallen asked before he could leave.

He looked back at her. "He's an unknown. Both of them are. You really don' have a clue what they're capable of. Right now Seth's cute an' cuddly like a little 'ol teddy bear. But sometimes those bears turn around an' bite ya in the ass. Kimble's one of those. He's dangerous and out of control."

"Spoken like a true skeptic," she teased. "I wonder if you've ever known true wonder in your long life. Doesn't anything new or different please you?"

"Sure, but I also know when ta be careful and not toss my heart out at the first pretty, doe eyed thing I see," Wolverine teased, letting her know he thought her love fascination was just a flight of fancy, a dream never to be fulfilled.

"Seth does love me, I've felt it. Haven't you ever known real love yourself? The legends say it's so, but I wonder. You spend so much time shoving every one away, how would you truly know if it was ever there?"

He considered his answer. "I've known it. Had it ripped away. I don't give my heart away lightly," he said, unusually candid. "When I do, I try to make sure I give it to someone real. Not just some kind of made up fantasy."

"Seth is no fantasy," she spoke, very serious.

"I hope yer right, for your sake," he said and walked out.