In a house full of eligible, handsome males, Remy wanted to make sure he cemented himself as Marie's boyfriend early on. Their room was located between Jean and Scott's and some guy named Piotr who had muscles the size of a grown man's head, so the morning of their first classes, he made sure to put on a nice show in the hallway of kissing and slobbing all over her in front of them as she left.

After prying Remy off of her, Marie arrived early to meet with Logan and go over the day's schedule and curriculum.

Her hair was in a tight ponytail and she wore a pair of spandex workout pants and a tank top. As she sat on the floor, stretching out her muscles, Logan walked in.

Having heard him coming, she made sure her butt was in the air by the time he arrived.

Logan stopped in his tracks and cleared his throat, "Uh...hi."

Marie looked up, feigning surprise as she straightened herself, "Hi. Just thought I should get loose. You ready to get started?"

"And eager to get finished...you sure you're teaching this class and not attending it?"

She raised a brow and smirked, "What makes you say that?"

Logan shrugged as he removed his sweat shirt to reveal a wife beater underneath. His buff arms distracted Marie as he spoke, "What are you? Nineteen? Twenty?"

Marie chuckled, "Um...actually, I'm much older than I look."

"And you think you can teach kids how to defend themselves from dangerous attackers?"

She smirked and crossed her arms, "I dunno...guess we'll have to see. What's your mutation by the way?"

"I heal...among other, not so pleasant, things."

Marie raised a brow, "I heal too, but it's not natural to my mutation...I absorb other people's powers, so it's likely I inherited my healing factor from someone I was in a fight with."

"Likely? You don't remember?"

Before she had the chance to answer, students began to file into the room. Logan immediately got started, barking at them to get them to start stretching. Out of the corner of his eyes, he watched a couple of male students eye Marie's ass as she helped a girl stretch out her legs.

Logan snapped his fingers in front of their faces, "Next time I have to remind you to pay attention to what the hell you're doing, I'll knock you on your ass."

Marie clapped her hands together once, "Alright. I'm Marie, and I'm sure you know Logan by now. This is self defense, 101. We're here to give you the first tools you'll need in order to keep from dying in a fight."

One of the teenaged boys rolled his eyes, "We know how to do that. When do we learn how to kick some ass?"

She slowly walked over to the boy before suddenly kicking his feet out from under him and placing her foot against his throat after he landed hard on the floor. In response, Logan had to stave off a hard on.

"Let this be your first lesson...never let your guard down." Marie turned to the rest of the class, "When you finally grasp THAT concept, you might learn how to 'kick some ass'."

Logan cleared his throat and recovered from the insane desire that swept over him as he stepped forward to address the class, "She's right. As soon as you stop paying attention to your enemy...you're fucked."

"Do you want to show the kids a quick spar before we get into the swing of things?"

He raised a eyebrow and eyed her unassuming, yet drop dead gorgeous figure, "You? Spar...with me?"

Marie nodded before crouching a bit to get into a fighting stance. Logan did the same as he shrugged, "Alright, kid...I'll see what ya got."

She waited for him to swing first, then expertly blocked the attempted blow before delivering a few swings and kicks of her own.

For some reason, they were able to predict each other's each and every move and eventually, they were engaged in a furious, yet elegant dance that ended up far more passionate and drawn out than either one of them intended.

The spar ended with Logan getting distracted by the bounce of her breasts, so Marie promptly kicked his legs out from under him and knocked him on his back, panting and staring up at Marie, who wore a satisfied smirk, "I knew I'd get you on your back eventually..."

As Logan got up, Marie straightened and turned her attention back to the the class, "So...what did Logan do wrong?"

One of the teenaged boys snickered, "He let you get on top..."

The *snikt* sound that came from behind Marie as Logan released three claws on one hand, "You got one more time before I filet your ass, pipsqueak."

The boy immediately quieted down and gulped at the sight of Logan's claws. Marie stared at them in curiosity and intrigue for a moment before clearing her throat and getting on with the rest of the class.

After the kids left the room, they were busy straightening out the class and putting the gloves and sparring pads away. Marie watched as Logan tossed a towel into the hamper, then ran a hand over his knuckles.

When he turned his eyes to hers, she quickly looked down and cleared her throat as she fiddled with the hem of the sweatshirt she picked up off the floor.

He looked at her, "So...good class."

She nodded and smiled, "Yeah. I think we work well together."

"Yep."

Marie started to turn and leave the room, but suddenly stopped and turned around, "Does it hurt when they come out?"

Logan immediately knew that she was referring to his claws. He looked down at his knuckles before looking back at her, "Every time..."

Remy chose that moment to enter the gym. He stopped in his tracks as his mouth dropped open upon seeing Logan. He muttered, "Mon dieu..."

Marie furrowed her eyebrows at Remy's shocked expression, which was followed by stunned silence as he stared at Logan.

She stepped toward Remy and waved a hand in front of his face, which seemed to break him out of his shock, "You OK there?"

He looked at her, then Logan, then her again, "Yeah. Yeah. I'm fine."

Logan quirked and eyebrow and turned around to set a couple more sets of gloves back in their places before preparing to walk out. This guy was clearly the extra scent he sensed on Marie..and he was not interested in getting to know him. The jealousy was already overwhelming. He glanced at Marie before leaving, "See ya tomorrow, kid."

"Alright..."

Remy was too preoccupied with Logan's presence to notice that Marie gawked at his ass as he left.

When he finally regained his ability to think and speak at the same time, he turned to her and pointed toward the door Logan had just exited, "That's the guy you're teaching the class with?"

She nodded, "Yeah. How was your first class? You OK? You look a little...sick..."

Remy tried to straighten and favor her with a smile, but it came off as weak and forced, "It was fine. Fine...we'll talk about it later. You wanna get some fresh air? I think I need some fresh air."

He barely waited for her to reply before he rushed out of the room, leaving her in perplexed silence.

That evening, Marie sat up in bed, going over the curriculum Scott "Tight Ass" Summers had given she and Logan. Neither one of them felt the desire to follow said curriculum, but she decided to give it a look just to keep Professor X placated.

Remy arrived in their room looking a little less frazzled than he did in the basement. She dropped the folder she was looked at and glanced at the clock. He'd skipped dinner and been gone for the better part of three hours.

"Where've you been?"

He scratched the back of his head before removing his jacket and tossing it on a nearby chair, "Out...walking. Thinking."

Marie quirked a brow, "Thinking...about what?"

Remy sat down on the edge of the bed and looked into her eyes, "I don't think it's going to work out for us here, belle."

She furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head, "We've haven't even been here that long. How do you even know it's not gonna work already?"

"I just have a bad feelin'. I...I don't trust the folks round here."

Marie laughed a little and dropped her pen, "What is really about, LeBeau? Come on...stop with the bullshit."

He looked into her eyes, then stood and paced a little, "It's that Jean woman...she made a pass at me and I don't feel comfortable round her..."

She laughed harder and rolled onto her back on the bed, holding her stomach, "Phew! Remy! You're killin' me."

"You don't believe me?"

Marie shook her head and stood, "It's not that I don't believe you...I just don't blame her. I mean...look at who she's engaged to. I'd need somethin' different too! Scott Summers may be hot, but his asshole is so tight, he probably needs daily enemas just to stay regular...good thing he's marryin' a doctor!

Remy crossed his arms, "You don't care if I get hit on?"

"Why would I?"

He regarded her carefully for a second before nodding, "Hm...shoulda known. I guess if I did get hit on and fuck some random chick, that would make you feel better for fucking every eligible male that you come across."

Marie's eyes suddenly grew cold and serious as she put her hands on her hips, "Remy. If you don't like it here, feel free to leave...but I love it here and I'm not leaving. You do what you want. I don't give a damn anymore."

She left him standing there as she walked into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.

Logan found her in the kitchen one lazy Saturday afternoon, rooting around the freezer for a snack. They'd been teaching together for almost two weeks, but beyond that, they never had the opportunity to talk because her overbearing asshole of a boyfriend. He would escort her to class, then immediately show up when it was over, not giving them even the slightest chance to communicate by themselves.

By her demeanor and the lack of Remy-scent coming from her direction, he guessed she'd just had a fight with the swamp rat.

Logan leaned against the door frame and watched her for a second, "Whatcha lookin' for, kid?"

Marie spared him a quick glance from around the freezer door before promptly burying her head back in it, "Anything chocolatey."

"Good luck finding ice cream in there. Bobby Drake eats that shit like he's on some kinda special diet..."

She cursed and slammed the door shut before leaning back against it and running her hands through her hair.

He raised an eyebrow, "Somethin' bothering you?"

Marie pursed her lips together and looked at him. She hesitated for a second before turning her eyes away from his and sighing, "Ever feel like you're in an inescapable hell of your own making?"

Logan smirked, "Where's the cajun?"

"Don't know and don't care."

Suddenly, the situation he had just stumbled upon looked really promising. He shoved his hands in his pockets, "Uh...I was just goin' to grab myself some beer...you can tag along and get your ice cream if you want."

He couldn't help but smile a little when she perked up and nodded eagerly. A break from the mansion seemed to be exactly what she needed.

Twenty minutes later, she was holding onto him as they rode Scott's bike into town. He parked in front of a row of quaint shops. There was an art store, small grocery store, antique store and boutique.

She smiled at the set up, "This is a cute spot."

Logan grunted in mild agreement as he quickly realized that their outing would be over all too quickly. He looked up and down the row of shops and thought of a way to delay their return to the mansion, where she would inevitably be swept away by the swamp rat. He scratched his head a little, "So...while we're here, did you wanna check out anything else?"

Marie nodded, "May as well walk around a bit..."

He couldn't believe the excitement he felt when she agreed to spending more time with him...but as usual, he kept his reaction in check and simply nodded and followed as she walked into the antique store.

After some browsing, shopping, walking and pleasant conversation, they started to get back on the bike to return to the mansion...but something in the art shop window caught Marie's eye. Since the "Closed" sign was up in the glass door, they skipped the store, but now...something piqued her interest.

She slowly wandered over to the shop to stare at the painting in the window as Logan followed. It was of a raven haired little girl, wading in a stream. The painting was beautiful...lively...colorful...and oddly familiar to both of them.

They stared at the painting in silence for a little while before Marie leaned forward in an attempt to check for an artist signature, but she found none. He raised a brow, "I'm not usually into art, but this is kinda nice."

Marie nodded, "Yeah...it's beautiful."

As soon as they returned to the mansion, Remy rushed down the stairs of the front porch, "Where the hell have you been?"

Logan quickly stepped between Marie and the angered cajun. He put a hand up, "Look here, gumbo...I know you may be used to talkin' to her any kinda way, but you will NOT do that in front of me, ya hear me?"

"This ain't none of your business, FRIEND."

"I ain't your friend...asshole."

Remy started to respond, but Marie quickly stepped from behind Logan, "Alright...enough. No bloodshed in front of the kiddies."

She smiled tightly at the group of kids who had been playing flag football just across the lawn. They'd stopped their game to see what the ruckus was about and were now staring at the trio. Remy reached to take Marie's arm, but both she and Logan let off a small growl.

They quickly looked at each other in surprise, but Remy hurriedly took her by the hand and drug her away before they had the chance to say anything to each other. She and Logan didn't take their eyes off each other until Remy pulled her through the doors of the mansion.

Review please! Looks like we're getting close to revealing their pasts!