"Logan you are not keeping me off this mission and that is final!"
He and Ororo stood inches from one another, neither willing to back down.
"Why would you put you and our daughter in danger?" He was furious.
This was the perfect chance for them to get Stryker and she wouldn't back down. Her going out there would make her a walking target!
"Our daughter will not be in danger! I can handle myself Logan!"
Static was building in the room. Strands of silky white hair were beginning to raise off her head.
"Yeah you handling yourself is how you got into this mess in the first place! You're absolutely crazy if you think I'm gonna let you go out there and put her life on the line!"
Fire burned in her eyes and he heard thunder crash outside.
"You're not even able to really keep a hold on your emotions and powers at this point Ro! Jesus Christ! Why are you so stubborn? Why ya always gotta argue with me on everything? Then ya wonder why I chased Jeannie instead!"
He heard her sharp breath. She looked up with white eyes filled with tears.
"Shit Ro I'm s-." He stepped towards her.
"GET OUT!" She screamed. Outside had turned into a full on storm; the winds were howling.
"Ro I said-."
"No! Get out! Get out. GET OUT!" She growled.
He felt himself being lifted off the ground. She used her winds to carry him out of the room and let him fall on the floor gracelessly. Her door slammed in his face and his hearing allowed him to hear her run into her bathroom before she broke down into mournful sobs.
To say he felt like shit would've been an understatement. He knew that there would be nothing he could say to her at that point.
He picked himself up and sulked away into his own room.
Ororo was 25 weeks pregnant and in the month since that kiss they hadn't went any further. They'd mostly focused on building a friendship, he'd learned so much about her and he told her everything that he knew about himself.
He was falling head over heels in love with the woman they called Storm and he didn't regret it.
She drove him absolutely crazy. She was so stubborn and they bumped heads almost daily. But it was seeing her gentleness when she spoke to the students, her determination when they were on a mission and the team needed her, her excitement with her plants and her contentment when it was just the two of them bonding over their daughter.
He was right about her; she was so much better than he deserved. But he was trying and he didn't want to lose her.
He sat in his room listening to the winds howl for what seemed like hours before he got up and made his way back to her.
"Ro, I'm coming in the room. Shock me, fight me, do whatever ya want but I ain't leavin'."
"I do not have the strength to argue anymore Logan." She sounded small and defeated for the first time ever.
"I ain't here to argue Ro, I swear. Just please let me come in."
The door opened for him and her weary blue eyes met his.
Her face was red and puffy and he hated himself for making her that way.
She stepped aside to let him in and closed the door before turning around and looking at him expectantly.
He walked up to her and pulled her into his arms deeply kissing her. His hands framed her face as he held her mouth to his. She gasped and moaned into his mouth letting him push her into the door.
He felt the tears come out of her eyes and roll down his thumbs. Her sadness was coming off of her in waves; he'd broken her and he didn't need to be an empath to feel it.
She pushed him away weakly and he broke the kiss out of respect for her.
"I'm not Jean. I've been reminded of that my whole life. I loved my sister but I'd be a liar if I said I never noticed that people flocked towards her. She had all the friends, she had all the attention and all the guys. I don't know why I never deserved love Logan? Everything I ever loved has been taken from me. What did I do so wrong to be cursed like this? I'm not ugly? I have always been the second choice or just an option. I know I can be 'icy' but who wouldn't be after living a life like mine? I do not think I am meant to be happy Logan." She said her voice slowly raising in octave as it become harder to hold back her tears.
"The chances I had at motherhood were ripped away from me from violation and now the one shot I got at motherhood came from violation. I'm starting to have nightmares about the things they did... to me. I'm starting to remember it and I don't know if I can love Kendall the way she deserves anymore."
She broke down sobbing.
He then realized that Ororo was just like him. A broken soul searching for something to heal it; but too scared to go forward with healing. She bottled in her emotions until she couldn't anymore and he knew that had to do with her control of the weather. It wasn't healthy though and she needed to know that she wasn't alone. She needed to know that her burdens weren't hers alone to carry anymore.
She needed to know that she was worthy of love.
He still had her against the door and she wouldn't look up at him.
"Ororo I- I love you. I'm not deserving of you but I wanna be! I'm sorry for saying that shit about you and Jeannie. She ain't hold a candle to you darlin' you gotta believe that. You're intimidating, you weren't worshiped as a goddess for no reason Ro. If anything that speaks more about us as men than you as woman. You're the most beautiful woman I've met. You're smart, kind, as loyal as they come and you got that sexy angry streak. You won't back down when it comes to your family and you're everything that I'd look for in a partner. And that's what I want ya to be. I want you to be mine I just wanna make sure we get this right! But I love you Ororo. I'm in love with you and I'm sorry for making you hurt so bad. I'd go to war behind you Ro." He lifted her head so she could look right at him.
"To know you been dealing with all this alone makes me feel like shit. Absolute shit man, fuck!"
He rested his forehead against hers.
" I'm so sorry Ororo. I'm so so sorry. I'm so sorry." He planted kisses on her mouth with each apology.
Her breathing was labored.
"Please show me Logan." She whispered.
"I can't do that Ro." He let go of her then back away.
His heart skipped as he saw her face crumble at his rejection.
"Not because I don't want to. Please don't think I don't want you! I've wanted you from the moment I first laid my eyes on you. You're just vulnerable right now and I wouldn't be a man if I took advantage of that. I don't need you waking up regretting anything. We got all the time in the world for that; it can wait."
She slowly wrapped her arms around her, her eyes closed.
He saw her waver a little bit and he went and steadied her. Her exhaustion was now clear as day on her face.
He scooped her up and put her in her bed.
"I'm sorry for my outburst Logan. I shouldn't have let my emotions get the best of me like that."
"Nah darlin, I never should have said what I did. It's okay to have emotions. You can't bottle everything up inside you like that. It's not good for you or Kendall." He smoothed her hair back from her face, letting his fingers graze her cheeks as he pulled his hand away.
"Can you stay with me? Please. I just- I'm sorry if it makes you uncomfortable. I just need you Logan."
She was so quiet; so soft and vulnerable.
"You sure Ro?"
He would do anything she asked him to do. But he didn't know how well he would fare with the woman of his affections so close and so intimate with him.
"Please. My nightmares keep me up. You calm Kendall also."
He stood and climbed into the bed and she scooted over to give him room. She snuggled into his arms and he planted a lingering kiss on her forehead; his eyes closed and he basked in her scent. She was intoxicating to him. He felt himself immediately being pulled into sleep.
"Logan?" Her voiced was masked in her exhaustion.
"Yeah darlin'?"
"I love you too." She said and then she was asleep.
He woke around 2 am to her not in bed and an uncomfortable erection. He didn't smell her in the room anywhere but he could smell the ozone outside and his heart surged.
He hopped up in a panic and ran onto her patio doors before he jumped off and tried his best to track her scent. She was outside he knew. He could smell her. There was a light rain coming down. He raced through the trees before coming to a halt at the lake.
Ororo was there in the nude standing at the edge of the lake a cloud of rain above her showering her body.
He didn't want to intrude but it seemed as though he was paralyzed. Rooted straight to the spot.
She turned around with a shy grin; she knew she was never uncomfortable in her nudity so she wasn't ashamed of him seeing her naked but she could also feel his embarrassment.
"I'm sorry Logan. Sometimes when I get worked up I have to be one with the Earth to feel better. I just wanted a shower. I was going to come right back; I was hoping I'd come back before you woke." She said sheepishly before rinsing her body off and sending a wind to dry her quickly.
Logan was hypnotized. Ororo's deep brown skin glistened in the moonlight. Her white hair looking like a halo. Her body perfectly curved and she had her hands wrapped around her belly. He knew exactly why this woman was thought to be a Goddess.
She bent down to grab her nightgown and slid it back over her body.
"You know you don't need to go through all of this stuff alone Ro." He said walking up to her.
She gestured to him to sit in the grass with her, sighing hard as she lowered herself to the ground.
"I don't know how to talk to anyone else. Jean, Scott, and the Professor-." She paused, her voice thickening with grief.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
"They were all I had. They were who I could talk to and I have now lost my family twice. I dont know how to Logan. I can't lose control or else I could cause something much bigger than my own grief. I'm trying to run the school, trying to lead the XMen and preparing for motherhood, all while I grieve the only family I had left. I honestly don't know how I'm still here Logan." She said.
He could see the exhaustion in her face, could feel her tension and grief coming off in waves.
"We're family darlin', you got me and Kendall always. And you gotta know when to take a break darlin'. Take some time for yourself. And I love ya. So talk to me." He said wrapping his arm around her and pulling her into him.
The scent of her hair filled his nostrils sending a low involuntary grumble through his chest. He placed a soft kiss to her head and just held her there.
"Logan?" She asked softly.
"Yeah darlin'."
"Why do you love me? How do you love me?"
She was being vulnerable and so he returned the favor.
"I love you because you're the most amazing woman I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. You're smart, you kept a caring soul no matter what you've been through, something that I ain't always been good at doing. I admire you for that; I know it ain't easy. I love how gentle you are in everything that you do. I love the grace you carry yourself with; even when we out battling, it takes a lot for me not to be distracted by ya flying around up there. That shit is breathtaking. I love the way you laugh, I love that crinkle ya get on the bridge of your nose before you pinch it when you're stressed. I love you for never backing down even when you know you're terrified. I love you for the way you put everybody before you; even though I hate it at the same time cuz ya stress yourself out. You're headstrong, you don't take no shit and you love hard just like me. You're just as much a part of nature as I am."
He was staring out into the lake; his hands slowly stroking her skin.
"Mmm. I- I don't know what to say Logan. I've not ever had someone tell me in depth like that. I am overwhelmed a little. I'm sorry. I'm at a loss for words." She smiles sheepishly.
" It's okay Darlin'. Took a lot out of me to even say all of that. But just know I meant it."
He felt her begin to tremble. Was she crying? He hoped not.
She then let out a soft snort and he realized she was laughing!
"I'm not seeing the joke Ro." He said annoyed.
She lifted her head, her bright smile glistening under the moon.
"I'm so sorry Logan. I just find it a little humorous that the rough and tough loner Wolverine is sitting here with me being poetic as he caresses my belly with our growing child. I just never would've imagined that this would be my life- our life together. It's so amazing and I love it. I love you but if asked 3 years ago if I ever would have imagined this I would've shocked that person." She said with another soft giggle.
He let out a grin and a low chuckle.
"I get what ya mean. Never thought I'd be domesticated. I was too afraid of this. Never thought you'd return my affections either." He said nuzzling his nose in her hair.
He stood up and pulled her up and they walked back to her room before falling back asleep in each other's arms.