I posted chapters 4 and 5 on the same day on AO3. They were both on July 26 last year, which happens to be a year before Deadpool and Wolverine comes out. I decided to post them on the same day here, even if part of me wishes I waited until July 26.
Harry doesn't know where they're going. They've driven on some roads more than once, and they drive to a village they already slept at.
Instead of going to a cafe for dinner, they go to a pub with lots of motorbikes outside. Harry flaps excitedly. Maybe one of these ones flies.
Logan leads Harry inside, where it's dark and smokey, like Logan's cigars.
Harry follows Logan to a bunch of high stools at a bar. Logan plonks on one stool and orders something that looks like juice, cigar already in his mouth. Harry climbs up onto the stool next to him.
Harry's never had juice. He taps Logan's glass with his broken motorbike, but the guy on the other side of the table says he can't have that.
"Give him a juice," Logan grunts, sliding another note onto the bar. He turns to talk to a pretty lady.
The man behind the bar nods. Soon, Harry has a drink that looks like Logan's. Harry sniffs it, but it's hard to smell it with all the smoke in the air. Harry's juice tastes wonderful. Harry watches Logan drink his glass and slide it across for another.
Logan's never told Harry he can't have more. Harry chugs his juice and pushes it across the bar. The guy fills him up again, and Harry beams.
Logan and Harry keep drinking, until Harry sees a giant green table with lots of colorful balls on it.
Harry goes over for a closer look. When he gets closer, he sees some balls are one color, and some are white with a stripe. They have numbers.
One man uses a stick to hit the plain white ball into another ball. They bounce off the little wall around the table, but not up and down. One ball rolls into a net in the corner, but the white one doesn't.
Harry helpfully nudges the white one into the net too.
"Get out of here, kid." the man seems angry about Harry's help. Harry backs up, but keeps watching. Logan strides over with his drink, and says he'll play the next game. He leans, watching and smoking, while Harry's hands flick with excitement. He has to fight the urge to reach out and grab the bright yellow ball.
When the game's over, Logan takes the loser's stick. Harry cheers him on, jumping up and down.
Logan lines it up to hit the white ball. This time, when the balls bounce off the wall, they bounce into the air before falling into a pocket.
"What the hell?!" the other man shouts. "You some kind of bloody mutie?!"
"You wanna say that again, bub?!" Logan snarls. It's what he calls Harry, but the way he says it now is different.
"Get out of here, freak!" the man raises his stick to whack Logan. Harry shouts, and Logan's sword claws shoot out. Snikt!
Logan cuts through the stick as easily as he'd cut Harry's motorbike. The guy's left holding a cut piece, the other three falling to the green table. The guy starts to try to stab Logan with the cut stick, but he jumps out of reach of the claws.
A glass comes flying out of nowhere, exploding on Logan's head. Logan growls again, turning to whoever threw it. Harry hears people shouting words Uncle Veronon liked to use.
Harry snatches one of the balls from the table. It's a lot heavier and harder than his bouncing ball, and he throws it at the stick guy's head. It hits him with a thud, and he yells.
Not even Harry's headphones help with how loud it's getting in here. He wants to run outside, escape the noise, but then he'd be leaving Logan behind.
Someone grabs Harry, and then Logan's there, smashing a glass on the guy's head.
Screaming, Harry grabs another ball, throwing it at someone who's pulled out a knife. It's not like Logan's knives.
With a roar, Logan seizes Harry around the waist and hauls him to his chest. He runs out the pub, swings onto their bike, and guns the engine.
They tear off into the street, and then they're going faster than ever. Some people from the pub are chasing them on their own motorbikes.
One of them gets close enough for Logan to slash through the front wheel. The motorbike goes out of control, veering sideways into another one.
Harry hates the collisions, but these really are bad guys. They hurt Logan, and it's all Harry's fault.
Harry shouts as another motorbike gets closer. Harry isn't excited about them anymore. These guys hate Harry and Logan just like the Dursleys did.
Harry waves his toy motorbike, and one of the real ones chasing them catches fire, just like the hoover had. This time, it's getting Harry out of trouble.
The other motorbikes fall behind, still shouting hateful words at them. Harry's used to it from his aunt and uncle.
Eventually, Harry can't hear the other motorbikes or their insults. The only sound is their engine, and their wheels on the road.
Logan huffs. "Ya sure know how to get into trouble, bub."
Harry stares at Logan's hands on the handlebars. Logan looked like he got into those fights a lot, and might have enjoyed it. Harry's pretty sure Logan knows how to get in trouble too.
"Guess we ain't findin' ya a mother there." Logan says, a while later.
Everyone there hated them. It seems like Logan's the only person who likes Harry.
And then Logan says "Ya ain't gonna stay outta trouble if I leave, are ya?"
Harry stiffens, arching his back, twisting to hang onto Logan's leather jacket. He knew someday Logan would notice how worthless he was, like Aunt Petunia always said, but hearing him talk about leaving Harry hurts worse than the hoover. Harry fists the jacket with an angry shriek.
Logan pulls the motorbike to the side of the road again, and Harry starts to scream. He really is going to leave Harry this time. If Harry could talk, he'd promise to be better. What does Logan want? He doesn't seem to mind that Harry can't talk, unlike everyone at school. Did he not want Harry to join the fight? But Logan almost seemed to enjoy fighting.
"Hey. I'd only leave ya fer yer own good, kid." Logan says, but he's been good to Harry. "I could've killed you. And hangin' around me, well, there'll be a lot of fights like that."
Harry grunts, not letting go of Logan's jacket. Logan still saved Harry a bunch. And he only cut Harry's motorbike, not Harry.
Harry's not going to let go. He won't be left here.
"Ya ain't safe with me an' ya ain't safe without me." Logan shakes his head. "I see how they look at you, before ya even use your powers."
Harry might not be able to always read people, but he knows what disgust looks like. He'd seen it every day on Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. He's still seeing it with Logan, but never from him.
"Alright, bub, I ain't gonna ditch ya. Yer too clingy to let me." Logan says. Harry isn't quite sure he trusts that, and keeps his hand fisted in Logan's coat.
Logan wraps his hairy arm around Harry, and Harry grins.
"If ya want to leave, though, I ain't gonna blame ya."
Harry laughs, shaking his hair wildly to create the feeling of wind. This is the best his life has ever been, even with fights and chases. It's better than being chased by Dudley, anyway.
Logan pulls out his cigar, but he doesn't get the lighter out. Instead, he gives Harry a crooked sort of smile. "Think ya can light me up like ya lit that motorcycle?"
Harry laughs. He's already been trying. For some reason, though, he can't do it when he wants to, so Logan has to light the cigar himself again.
Harry turns towards the handlebars as Logan smokes. Logan says there's no point sticking around here, and asks "Ya want to go flyin' fer real? I'm going to Canada, and I guess yer going wherever I go now."
Harry flaps his arms, grinning up at the starry sky.