AN: I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. It's a little choppy, but it didn't want to come out any other way. The conversation with Scott was what my original inspiration was for this story.
Thank you for reading, I would really appreciate it if you would drop a review or two my way.
O o o o o o o o o O
The days passed by quickly as Logan was re-assimilated into life at Xavier's mansion. He started teaching a combat tactics class, which he enjoyed. He also began training in the Danger Room with the rest of the team.
It was harder to get used to, fighting as a team again. It was different strategies and following orders. Logan was never a big fan of orders. People seemed to be taking that into account though and the goal was to allow him to do his thing without interfering with their plans.
He had to admit, after his most recent Danger Room session, the kids were growing up and getting good. Even the Iceman kid was really coming into his own. A few times, he caught himself looking for Rogue while in the simulation, then the reality coming back to him that she was up in the control booth with Scott, running the show.
When the training session was over, they went to shower and change and Wolverine's mind growled internally that Scott and Marie had gotten so close. It seemed wrong somehow. Clean and redressed, Wolverine walked out of the locker room and frowned.
He sniffed the air slightly, then followed the scent down the hall. In a doorway, he found Bobby and Kitty in each others' arms and engaged in a fairly passionate kissing session. Anger on Marie's behalf boiled to the surface and he growled loudly, grabbing the attention of the two younger X-Men.
Logan forcibly separated them, growling at Kitty, "Get out of here."
The Iceman tried freezing his hands to make him let go, but Logan was beyond feeling cold. His voice was a snarl, "I should remove your head from your shoulders for going behind Marie's back like that!" He had the kid by his shirt, dangling a few feet off the ground, back against the wall.
Bobby's face which had already gone through the emotions of shock and fear, now showed confusion. "Marie? We…I mean…She knows…"
'She knows?' That comment threw Wolverine. He let the boy down a few inches. "That still doesn't make it right." His growl was not as angry as before, but he wasn't ready for Bobby to be let off the hook yet.
"LOGAN!" He heard a familiar voice yell in anger and annoyance. He dropped the ice-cube immediately, who then scrabbled to get away. Logan let him go, because now Marie was coming and she sounded upset.
"Sorry Bobby!" she called to the retreating form of the Iceman. She sighed when she didn't get a response, he just kept running. Then she turned on him angrily. "What in the hell do you think you're doing?"
Logan hesitated a moment. "I caught him messing around with another girl," he said carefully.
"You caught him messing around with his girlfriend, bub," Marie said drily, arms crossed over her chest, her anger fading quickly when she figured out what was going on.
Logan stopped to think about it. "You aren't seeing the Ice-Prick anymore?"
Marie shook her head, and now amusement was sneaking into her features. "We broke up over a year ago."
"Oh." Wolverine searched for another justification for Bobby deserving the treatment he just received. "Well, they shouldn't have been carrying on in the halls."
Marie laughed outright now. "That is the lamest excuse I've ever heard from you, Logan." She smiled more gently, "I do appreciate you sticking up for me." Her smile faded, "But don't do it again."
"Can't promise that." Logan shrugged.
"Did you miss that conversation in which I told you I don't need your protection?" Marie said pointedly. His response to that was a glare. "I mean it. I can take care of myself."
"I know you can, wasn't saying you can't." She stared him down and finally he just strode away in frustration.
O o o o o o o o O
Marie was lounging on Scott's sofa as she graded papers, trying to keep Logan out of her head.
"What's wrong?" Scott asked. He had been watching her for over an hour and something was clearly bothering her.
She shook her head, "It's nothing."
"Bullshit," he said and stood up and walked over to her, motioning for her to move her feet so he could join her on the couch. "We have spent too much time together for that. Something is bothering you."
"It's just stupid. It's been awkward since Logan came back. He still sees me as a sixteen year old girl who can't take care of herself." Marie sighed and leaned her head against Scott, who put his arm around her in response. "I had to go through this after I first took the cure and now it's like I'm back at square one."
Scott kept his arm tightly around her in a half hug. "I don't think it is that he doesn't trust you. I think he is…we all are…afraid of losing someone we care about." He fell silent at that, clearly thinking about Jean.
She rested in the hug for a moment, "Thank you, Scott." She leaned back and then playfully rubbed the uneven skin of his head to break the tension. "Who would have thought we'd end up here, like this?" She smiled a little.
"I sure as hell didn't. I mean, I wouldn't want to be caught dead with a 'normie'," he said with a smirk.
Marie laughed and threw a pillow at him. "Don't even start with me. I need to get these papers graded before bed!"
Scott held up his hands in surrender and went back to working on his own set of paperwork at his desk.
O o o o o o o o o O
Outside the room, the man known as Wolverine stalked away, feeling angry and betrayed for some reason that he could not immediately determine. He went to the Danger Room to try and work out his anger there.
His Marie. With the asshole Summers. Logan couldn't believe his ears when he had heard them together, like a comfortable married couple. That was just wrong. She was close to him, not Scott. Even when she was dating that Bobby kid, he was still the one she could talk to about things.
As Logan let the Wolverine take over, he tried to push Marie out of his head, just ripping and tearing through imaginary enemies as instinct took over for higher thought. His instincts weren't helping him much though, as they were screaming at him that Marie was his and he needed to reassert his claim to her.
He stopped the simulation finally, frowning at what his instincts had been pushing him to do. Realization hit him like a ton of bricks. "Fuck," he said to himself.
He was jealous.
O o o o o o o o o o o O
The next day, Marie woke up early to take a jog before classes. Running was good for her soul, it let her concentrate on her feet hitting the pavement and the world going by, helping to drown out the confusing feelings about Logan.
She had always been attracted to him, who wouldn't have been? The man practically oozed sex appeal. And he had saved her, not just physically, but emotionally. He was the first person since her mutation had emerged to show that she was still a worthwhile person, someone worth caring about.
That would have been enough to form a strong bond and attachment, but then she had absorbed him and his powers, twice. That meant he took up a residence in her head, even when the real Logan was away. Maybe that was why it was easier for her to deal with his earlier absences; in her head, he was always with her. But this last time he left, he was long gone from her brain as well.
She told Logan that she missed the voices sometimes, but to be honest, she really just missed his. That voice was hard for her to let go of, and it hurt to think she could get used to it again from the real Logan, only to have him disappear again in a few months. It would be better to keep her distance, for her own sake.
O o o o o o o o o o o O
Logan was out by the woods, smoking his cigar and finally enjoying a beer at the same time. New York had banned smoking indoors and that killed the enjoyment of bars for him. Someone had put a six-pack in the fridge in the teacher's kitchenette for him. He knew it was Marie – her scent was all over the bottles and the note taped to the case was in her neat handwriting: "For Logan. Others drink at your own risk." She knew him too well.
Jean once told him that Marie was sweet on him. He had brushed it away, his eyes only for Jean and Marie was younger then. But she wasn't anymore, she had matured into a beautiful woman. Though, he had to admit, she was always older than her body, having shared her mind with not only him, but Magneto, Pyro, and a host of others. Just dealing with her mutation was enough to make someone grow up quickly.
He finished his beer and took his last drag on the cigar. Even if he did want her, even if she wanted him, he wasn't sure he was the kind of guy she should have. His mind flashed back to a conversation that he had with Jean.
"Girls flirt with the dangerous guy, Logan. They don't take him home. They marry the good guy," Jean said, looking at him almost sadly.
"I could be the good guy," he replied, not sure if it was true, even as he said it.
She gave him a pointed look and then said simply, "Logan, the good guy sticks around."
He really wasn't sure if he could be the good guy. Or even if he wanted to be the good guy. He also was sure that Marie deserved a good guy. He didn't want to see her hurt, and it seemed most days, that was what he was real good at when it came to people he cared about. Maybe he couldn't be the good guy, but at least he could make sure one-eye was treating her right.
O o o o o o o o o o O
A few days later, Logan made a point to corner Scott in his office. "I need to talk to you, Slim." His posture was aggressive, potentially hostile.
Scott arched a brow and pointed to a chair opposite his desk. "Should I be worried? I have several items in here I would really like to remain intact," he said mildly.
Wolverine grunted and ignored the proffered chair. "You're the good guy, right?" He said it with accusation, glaring at the deformed man in the red glasses.
"Uh…yes…?" Scott looked around suspiciously, unsure of what kind of question this was. "I try to be."
Logan nodded tersely. "You treat her right?" Again with the death glare.
Scott's posture tensed and his nose flared with the accusation. "I loved her and would never have hurt her." His hand went up to his glasses. He may have had things in his office that were breakable, but he would not stand for Logan insinuating that he didn't treat Jean well.
"Not Jean, Marie." Logan watched him carefully for his response.
"Come again?" Scott's hand dropped from the wire frame of his glasses, looking a little confused, then realization dawned, "You think I'm seeing Marie." He smirked just slightly.
"You're not." He realized from Scott's expression that he was wrong in his interpretation of their behavior towards each other.
Scott still seemed amused, "No, I'm not. You obviously haven't talked to her enough since you came back; she's not been seeing anyone since she and Bobby ended it."
"Yeah, because she's always talking to you!" Logan growled in annoyance. Little shit was gloating that he knew more about Marie.
"Jealous?" Scott said with a laugh, and then groaned when he saw Logan's expression and got serious fast. "Jesus Logan, you are."
Wolverine growled again, "Shut it."
"Isn't she a little young for you?" Scott gave him a disapproving look.
"Isn't everyone?" he retorted. Seeing Scott's confused look he elaborated. "Apparently I age well. Over a century's worth of well." Logan snorted a little in amusement at that fact.
Scott's jaw dropped, "Shit." He looked closely at the other man, "Do you remember all of it now?"
Logan shook his head. "Nah, but I get bits and pieces. I remember though that I fought in the Civil War." He was pleased at the look of shock on Cyclops' face.
The shock had not moved from Scott's face, "The American Civil War." Logan nodded in confirmation. "That's…incredible."
"Yeah, I'm a wonder of human evolution," he said with sarcasm dripping from his words.
That brought Scott out of his shocked state and he returned to looking at Logan carefully. "Leave Marie alone."
Logan bristled at that command, "What right do you have to say that?"
"I'm her friend, jackass. It's just about winning and dominance with you. And you are only interested in her because you thought she was with me. Just like you didn't really care about Jea - " The name died in his throat as there was suddenly a claw pressing right against his jugular, with Wolverine now crouched on his desk.
"I would not finish that sentence if I was you, bub." His words dripped with anger and hurt.
"What in the hell is going on here?" Both men simultaneously looked to the doorway to see Marie glaring at them both, hands on her hips.
Logan immediately retracted his claws and got off Scott's desk. "Nothin'. Just a little misunderstanding." He glared at Scott, daring him to contradict.
Scott gave Logan a hard look, "Yes, Logan was confused about some things, I was just straightening him out."
Logan growled at Scott again, causing Marie to step in front of the large man, placing her hands on his chest. "Logan, back off. And Scott," she said over her shoulder, "Stop provoking him."
"Fine," Logan muttered and stalked off. Scott's words had struck him deeply, not only about Jean, but about Marie and only being interested in winning. He needed time alone to think about it.
O o o o o o o o o o O
"You want to clue me in as to what that was about, sugar?" Marie looked at Scott expectantly, her accent more pronounced when she was upset.
Scott debated what to tell her, and decided the truth was the best policy, "He thought you and I were seeing each other and was trying to play protector."
"Jerk," they said in unison, and laughed.
"I told him I didn't need or want him being my big brother." Marie sighed in frustration. "That man does not listen."
Scott regarded Marie carefully, "Do you want me to talk to him?"
"Yeah, because that worked out so well for you today." She rolled her eyes. "It's just the way he is. I guess I don't really expect him to change." She shrugged and let a smile creep on her face.
He had watched her reaction carefully and it confirmed what he already suspected; she still held onto her crush on Logan. "This is not going to end well," he thought to himself with a sigh.