Title: Soon
Author: Kari Summary: Logan tries to comfort Marie after Alkali Lake
Rating: Adult General
Word Count: 700

"Hey kid."

Marie looked up, the skin around her eyes puffy and red. "Logan." She bit her lip to keep from crying.

Logan sat on the couch and pulled her into a half-hug. "Marie…"

She burst into tears, burying her face in his chest. "She's gone, Logan, gone forever. And John, and soon you're gonna leave, and everyone else and I'm gonna be alone."

He stroked her hair gently, unsure of what to say. Panicking young women were not his forte. He made what he hoped we reassuring noises, and after a few moments, she calmed down enough to talk. "Marie? Look at me." He reached between them, his leather gloves protecting them as he tipped her face up to his. "Look at me."

Her big brown eyes were liquid enough to drown in, and Logan felt like someone had just socked him in the gut. Her expression was a mix of trust and fear. "You're going to leave me." Her voice was small, and her chin shook as she spoke.

"I'm not leaving you. Never leaving you." He brushed a strand of shock-white hair out of her eye, tracing down the side of her face to her jawline. He could smell her grief and pain, and under it all, something that was undeniably Marie. "Just because I'm not here, doesn't mean I've left you." His voice dropped to a whisper. "Don't ever think that."

Marie swallowed hard. He saw her hand twitch, as if she wanted to touch him but thought better of it. "Why? Why shouldn't I?" Her voice, soft thought it was, sliced at him with accusations. "You left before; you're going to leave again." She turned away, her eyes tracing circles on the carpet.

"I am going to leave. But I'm not leaving I you /I . You understand?" He pulled her forward to face him again, and he saw comprehension dawn on her face.

"Why?"

Logan shook his head. "You and me… I've been alone too long. You changed that. Changed me. And I'm not going to lose the only person that made me feel human in fifteen years." He had a strange urge to sweep his thumb across her lower lip, but held himself back. "Marie, I owe you more than that."

He knew those were the wrong words when her eyes went hard. "So, what is this, some twisted form of loyalty? I don't need your pity Logan. I get enough of that from the rest of the world." She twisted out of his arms, standing. Anger was obvious in the hard lines of her body.

"God damn it, Marie! That's not what I meant!" He stood too, following her as she stalked across the room. He wrapped his hand around her upper arm, spinning her toward him and pinning her to the wall with his body. "That's not what I meant and you know it."

Those brown eyes stared up at him, welling up again. "What are you doing, Logan? What are you doing to me?"

He leaned down, his face inches from hers. He could taste her breath, smell her shampoo and the soap she'd used this morning in the shower. Her heart was thudding in her chest, her pulse racing and he could smell her arousal. "I don't know what I'm doing, Marie."

She turned her face up toward him, her mouth open just slightly. Her tongue darted out to lick her lipstick-darkened lips, and he was gone. He ducked down, pressing his mouth to hers. She felt like heaven and tasted better, her tongue sliding across his. He threaded his gloved fingers through her hair, pulling her tighter to him. Within seconds, her skin started to suck his life force, and he jerked away. Marie's eyes were dilated, her skin flushed. The waxy lipstick was smeared around her lips, and he could feel it on his. "Logan…" she breathed.

His right hand still cradled her head, and he brought his left up to touch her face. He traced her cheekbone, along the curve of her jaw, her lips. "Babe, I… I still have to leave." Even as he said it, he felt his chest tighten.

She swallowed. "You'll come back?"

"Soon. Soon."