Taming a Beast

I had been sore before, but never like this.

When I woke up the next morning, I had bruises that were still fading in some spots, and I saw Logan and I had pretty much destroyed the bed. The headboard was demolished, sliced into pieces. There were feathers and white cloth everywhere from the pillows and sheets that had been victims of our amazing night. And, most importantly, there was red blood staining the white sheets.

“Shit,” I muttered, standing up and grabbing my robe quickly. I pulled it on over my bare body and rushed out to the balcony, where, typically, Logan was standing and staring out at the ocean behind the cottage. I walked up behind him and grabbed one of his biceps with both of my hands, but he didn’t look down at me. I sighed and said, “Logan...”

“Don’t even say it wasn’t my fault,” he growled quickly. He looked over at me. “If you weren’t invincible... I don’t know if you’d be dead or what right now.”

“I hardly doubt I’d be dead,” I said to him, moving in between him and the balcony. I grabbed his hands and put them on my waist, and they slowly slid to my back. I reached up to his face and when he looked down at me, I saw true pain and regret in his eyes. I reached up and pressed my lips to his for a few moments, then pulled away, stroking my thumb over his cheek. “I don’t regret it at all.”

“How could you? You never regret anything in your life,” Logan muttered. I laughed, but he was still frowning. “For once, I’d like to see the pessimistic side of you.”

“For once, I’d like to see the optimistic side of you. Whenever that day comes, maybe we’ll trade,” I said to him, still holding his face in my hands. I pulled him close to me and we kissed for a bit, but I was the one to pull away. “I’m really happy that we finally got to be together, Logan.”

He put his hands on my wrists, making sure my hands were not going to leave his face anytime soon. He twisted his head and kissed the inside of my wrist, smiling down at me softly. “As much as I regret the fact that I hurt you, I’m glad that we were able to do this as well.”

“I love you,” I reminded him. He smiled.

“I know you do,” he said teasingly, kissing me on the forehead before pulling me tight to his body and hugging me. It had been a long time since we had just had a nice, long hug, and I felt so much more relaxed when I pulled away. The soreness in my muscles was fading, but there was a longing in my heart for fighting and for home that I couldn’t resist.

Logan must’ve been able to read my mind, because he asked, “Are you homesick, too?”

“Strangely, yes,” I said to him, and he grinned at my pleasantly surprised tone. “We should probably go inside and get packing so we can get home sooner.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Logan said to me as we headed back inside and packed up all of our stuff. I stood out on the back patio, watching the waves crash to the shore, while Logan packed up the car. He honked when he was ready for me to come take my seat in the passenger’s chair, and I circled around the house only to be tackled by some huge, hairy guy.

I shifted without hardly thinking, my claws sinking into his stomach. I shifted into Colossus, pushing him off of me and knocking down a huge tree while I was at it. I looked around frantically and saw Logan lying on the ground, not moving. I kept my figure as Colossus, putting his body into the passenger’s seat as I climbed into the driver’s seat and slammed on the gas pedal.

By the time I got to the mansion, Hank, Colossus, Scotty, and Rogue were all waiting for me. I had called Hank frantically, asking him if I could do anything and that I wasn’t even really sure what happened. He told me all I could do was hope that Logan’s body would heal itself, and if not, that he wasn’t completely done by the time I got to the mansion.

Colossus and Hank rushed in quickly, pulling Logan out. Scotty put his arms around me, hugging me tightly and telling me it would be okay. Rogue informed me that Xavier was currently in Cerebro and hadn’t been told of Logan’s condition as of yet. I could only nod to all of this, all of my emotions with Logan and wherever his soul was lying.

Scotty guided me to the hospital wing as Hank told us Logan was alive, but barely. It seemed that the mutant who had attacked us had stabbed Logan with some needle containing a nearly lethal anesthetic. Of course, he had tried to kill him with a lethal amount of it, but Logan’s body even fought death, apparently.

I sat with Scotty’s arm around me and Rogue’s gloved hand on me until Hank came out and told me that Logan wanted to see me, but only me. I stood up quickly, giving a thankful smile to both Rogue and Scotty, before I rushed into the hallway and into the hospital room where Logan was attached to all these wires, looking perfectly healthy.

“Hank wanted to run some other tests on me while I was in,” Logan said with a grimace, a sight that made me laugh. I walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it as Logan sat up as well. He reached forward and kissed me, a gentle but passionate kiss. I pulled away from him and he wiped away a stray tear that had begun sliding down my cheek, asking, “Why are you crying?”

“I was so afraid... you weren’t responding to anything,” I said to him, wiping my eyes. “I mean, I know you’re invincible and everything, but there’s a thin line between that and being immortal.”

Logan chuckled. “While that may be true, I’m not going to die off anytime soon, not as long as you need me. So, what happened exactly? Last thing I remember, I honked the horn and was waiting for you to round the car when I felt a sharp pain in my back and fell to the ground. Someone walked past me, and I think it was Bigfoot.”

I laughed, some of the tension that had been building up in my body all this time somehow managing to release. Logan smiled, obviously pleased that he had made me laugh, but I had to shrug and tell him, “None of us know. I didn’t see its face, so Xavier couldn’t label him even after reading my mind.”

“Does he know about... well, what we did on the trip?” Logan asked me. I laughed again.

“I have no idea. If he does, he did a very good job concealing it,” I said to him, stroking his face. “I never thought I’d be visiting you while you were in a hospital bed.”

“I never thought I’d be in a hospital bed again,” he grumbled. There was a moment of silence as both of us kind of thought about what had happened, and Logan asked, “So, Xavier had no explanation whatsoever for why we were attacked?”

I caught my breath. Of course Xavier and I both knew why we had been attacked-- the mutant was obviously someone who wanted to capture me for Magneto. But Xavier had strictly told me not to tell anybody about it, even Logan. But as I saw Logan’s expression, saw how much he wanted to know why this was happening to us, I gave in.

“Xavier told me Magneto was after me,” I whispered to Logan, hoping that Xavier was keeping his mind on somebody else besides Logan and me. Under the circumstances, I honestly wouldn’t bet on it. Logan’s eyebrows shot up a little bit, and I shook my head. “He said he thinks Magneto wants me because I’m very powerful... and he wants me to replace Mystique. So, not only does he have his Brotherhood members after me, but he also put a reward on my capture for any other willing mutant.”

“Who have the same heart and conscience as a Brotherhood member, I’m willing to bet,” Logan growled. I reached over and laid my hand over his, and our fingers locked together. I smiled softly at him.

“He also told me that in order to lure me in, Magneto’s going to hurt the people I love,” I said softly, looking down at Logan’s hand in mine. I touched the space between his knuckles where his claws extended from, and I could feel him flex his wrist underneath my touch. “I think that attack was just the beginning, and... I think they’re coming after you first.”

“Then let them come at me. They can never have you,” Logan growled protectively. I touched his face with just my fingertips, and he eased back into his bed and relaxed.

“You shouldn’t egg them on like that,” I said to him. “One day, that attitude is going to get you killed.”

“Come here,” Logan said, putting out his arms. I laid down beside him, cuddling up to the side of his body. Logan let out a big breath and said, “I’ve got to be reckless, it’s my job as part of this team. I’m the risk-taker, I’m the guy who acts without consequence and instigates most fights. But if I didn’t do that, it’d be like the Cold War. All talk, no action, but still, people died with small, secretive murders. It’s better if we have a full-blown fight, because it starts and ends with that war.”

“Not necessarily,” I said to him. He chuckled.

“Always so literal. I’m not saying the same issue may not rise again, I’m saying that it allows for a period of peace instead of ongoing unease. Which would you rather have? Calm before the storm, or a constant thunderstorm?” He asked me. I bit my lip.

“I guess I see where you’re coming from,” I said slowly. “So you think we should engage?”

“Given the chance, I do. But Magneto doesn’t want a war-- at least, not with the X-Men. So unless we go to him first, these little violent acts are going to continue and keep us on our toes, keep us awake at night,” Logan said, shaking his head. “We don’t need that.”

“Well, Logan, right now, you’re in a hospital in a very well-protected mansion that I know for a fact Magneto would never attack. So this is the calm after the storm for you, for us. And it may last only a few moments, but we’ve got to stop talking about war and just be happy you’re alive,” I said to him. He chuckled, pulling me closer and kissing the top of my head.

“Most of that was said for Xavier. I could sense he was listening in. He’s out of my head for now,” Logan said. I laughed, hitting him in the chest. “Ow!”

“Oh, don’t be such a baby,” I said to him, kissing his chest where I hit him. Hank entered and cleared his throat as I stood up quickly. I leant down and kissed Logan on the lips, telling him, “I’ll be back here in the morning to check up on you. Night, I love you.”

He smiled at me. “I love you, too.”

I would never get tired of that.