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Title:
Tricks and Treats
Author:
Terri
E-mail:
xgrrl26@yahoo.com
Rating:
R, adult themes
Disclaimer:
I don't own them, but if I did, I'd
always give
them a happy ending :)
Archive:
WRFA, Mutual Admiration, Peep Hut, everyone
else, please
ask and I'll say yes ;)
Feedback:
Please! With some miniature-size candy on
top?
Good, bad, and ugly welcome, but be forewarned
that flames
will be publicly mocked ;)
Summary:
Logan has a very unpleasant trick played on
him; Rogue
has to supply the treats.
Comments:
This is all Khaki's fault. Well, and
Lateo's
;) I was bitten hard by Khaki's Halloween
challenge
plot bunny (there may be one more fic from
that bunny
forthcoming it just won't let go of my
butt) and
inspired by Lateo's and Khaki's Asylum
stories,
what with their fabulous take on
lost-his-marbles
Logan. I would like it noted by the
platoon
of Logan clones that I was quite a bit nicer
to him here
:) I'd also like to take this opportunity
to say that
I, for one, think tutus are cool :)
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Rogue received
the calm, collected telepathic message
from the
Professor in the middle of the Halloween
party.
She had gone dressed as an angel, in a
diaphanous
sleeveless white gown, with her hair put up
in delicate
ringlets and a silvery halo above her head
to complete
the picture. Everyone had commented
favorably
on her costume and on her newly found
ability
to control her powers. Wearing a sleeveless
dress would've
been unthinkable if she could still
kill with
a touch.
The Professor's
message had held the most welcome news
since she'd
heard since she had gained control of her
powers.
They'd found Logan. That was all the message
had said
- well, that, and that Rogue should meet them
in the medlab
- but it was enough. The Professor and
the X-men
had told her so little about their search
for Logan
these past few months, and she was eager to
see how
he was doing for herself. They'd been looking
for him
since they lost track of him on Cerebro. That
Logan's
disappearance coincided with Magneto's escape
from prison
didn't ease her fears. She quickly made
for the
elevator, ignoring the surprised looks and
comments
of her fellow party-goers.
The elevator
opened to the sound of screams - Logan's.
Rogue could
smell his blood as well, and her joy at
the news
that Logan had been found turned to stark
apprehension.
She rounded the corner to see a
worried,
beaten-up cadre of X-men, but no Logan. She
was about
to ask where he was when she hear a muted
roar from
behind the metal wall of the medlab's
holding
cell. In the next second, a loud bang
punctuated
the small dent that suddenly exploded
outward
in the six-inch-thick metal wall. There was
silence
for a moment, then another bang and dent. It
wasn't until
the third time that it finally registered
with Marie
that it was Logan in the cell, trying to
break through
the wall.
"What's
going on?"
"Logan......"
Scott rubbed at his head and trailed
off.
"What?!"
Rogue demanded.
"We found
Logan," Scott said softly.
"And what?!"
A fourth bang and dent competed with her
voice.
Marie was beginning to panic a little now.
"He's -
he's not in his right mind. He - Magneto got
to him somehow
and made - he made Logan watch a tape
of you -
Mystique and you - no, no, Sabretooth and
Mystique
- Mystique and she was - "
Marie crossed
the room to grab Scott by his leather
jacket and
shake him. She looked every bit the
vengeful
angel, even as her aluminum foil halo shook
ridiculously
atop her head. "Make some sense,
dammit!"
Scott seemed
to pull himself together at that.
"Magneto
made a videotape of Mystique and Sabretooth,
only Mystique
- she made herself look like you. He
made Logan
watch it. Logan thinks - he thinks you're
dead.
He thinks Sabretooth........he thinks
Sabretooth
raped and killed you, brutally. He's not
in his right
mind."
"Move."
Rogue pushed Scott aside and made for the
holding
cell.
"Rogue,
be careful! Rogue, don't!" But it was too
late - she'd
already entered the code and opened the
door.
Hanging out with Hank had yielded benefits
beyond the
obvious pleasure of his company. What she
saw inside
the cell stopped her cold. She quickly
closed the
door behind her, locking herself in.
"Logan,"
she said softly. "Oh, Logan......" He was
bloodied
all over, covered in self-inflicted claw
marks, and
the metal of his skull could be seen
sparkling
beneath a torn scalp - the result of banging
his head
against the reinforced steel walls.
"Marie?"
he asked in confusion. She nodded. Feeling
the halo
bounce around above her, she impatiently tore
it off,
then took a step toward him. "I'm so sorry,
kid."
"It's OK,
Logan, I'm fine, I'm OK."
"No, you're
dead. I know it, I saw it, I - I'm just
so sorry."
A piece of his torn scalp flopped down as
he tilted
his head to the side.
"I'm not
dead, I'm right here. I'm right here."
Marie crossed
the room to embrace him. "See? I'm
right here."
"Oh, darlin',
I'm so sorry...." He hugged her back
tightly.
"I letcha down and I - I - " He broke off in
sobs and
Marie could smell his pain and sadness. He
still didn't
believe that she was real, that she was
here.
"Logan,
Logan, smell me - can't you smell me?" He
pulled back
to look at her and smiled sadly. "I'm not
dead.
I'm here. It wasn't me you saw, it was
Mystique.
I'm here, I'm here."
"You're
an angel now, darlin'. I'm so sorry." He
caressed
her bare face with his bare hand and she saw
tears mixed
with the blood on his face. "I didn't
protect
ya. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."
"Logan,
please listen to me. I'm just fine. You're -
you're touching
me, you can feel me. I'm warm, I'm
alive.
It wasn't me, it was Mystique you saw. It was
a trick."
"I know
you don't want me to be sad, darlin', I know.
But - but
I failed you. I'm so sorry, so sorry. I
shoulda
protected you better. I shoulda - " The tears
increased
and she became even more alarmed. Scott had
been right
- he wasn't in his right mind. He just
couldn't
process anything beyond rage and sorrow and
self-hatred
at her death. He was stuck. His mind
just wouldn't
accept any other information.
"Logan,
I'm not an angel, it's just - it's just a
costume.
It's Halloween. You can smell me, you can
feel me,
I'm alive. I'm alive." Her mind scrambled
for a way
to show him, for something that would get
through.
"If you
were alive, then I couldn't touch ya." He
traced a
path down her cheek with one finger, painting
her in his
blood. He frowned at that. "Look, I
gotcha all
messed up. I messed up your face."
"It's OK,"
she reassured him. "Logan, I learned - I
learned
how to control my powers, that's why you can
touch me.
Not because I'm dead or an angel or an
apparition
or something. While - while you were gone,
I learned
to control it, that's all." She briefly
contemplated
turning her skin on to prove to him that
she was
alive, but he needed every ounce of his
healing
power to fix the wounds he'd inflicted on
himself
and she was loathe to bring him even a little
more pain.
"Logan, believe me, I'm alive,
everything's
OK."
"I'll believe
whatever you say. Just - just stay here
with me
for a while. Please, darlin'? I'm sorry,
Marie....."
He fell to his knees and rested his head
on her stomach
as the sobs took him over. Strong arms
snaked up
the length of her back, stroking her
tenderly.
"I'm so damn sorry, darlin'. I woulda - I
woulda protected
you, I woulda taken care of you so
good if
I just had one more chance. I'm so sorry."
Marie was
crying a little now too, and desperately
searching
her mind for a way to break through to him.
She stroked
his hair as he murmured 'sorry's and
rubbed his
face back and forth against her stomach.
Finally,
she heard the Professor in her head, checking
in.
She relayed the situation and asked him what to
do.
He said he'd have to research the problem and get
back to
her. Great, she thought, just great. At
least he
dressed up as Einstein for Halloween. Maybe
that will
help.
"Logan,
shhh." He was getting more and more agitated
and holding
her very tightly. "It's all right, I'm
all right."
"But - but
- I couldn't help ya. I tried I tried I
tried I
tried...."
"Shhh, sugar.
I'm alive, I'm OK. I'm alive and I'm
just fine."
"You're
an angel now, kid. I knew you'd go to heaven,
I did.
And I know I won't get there when I go, but I
- I - please
just stay here with me, Marie, please,
just for
a while, please, please, don't go, don't go."
"I'm not
going anywhere, sugar, not ever. I'm not
ever going
to leave your side, all right? Not as long
as I live."
She knelt next to him and tried to stem
her tears.
"Listen to me, OK? I know what it
looked like."
She looked directly into his hazel
eyes, and
hers burned with certainty and clarity. "I
know it
looked like me, but it wasn't. It wasn't. It
was Mystique,
pretending to be me. It wasn't really
me.
It couldn't have been, Logan, because if it had
been, you'd
have found a way to save me. I know that.
That's
true. So - so it couldn't have been me that
you saw.
It was a lie. That - that wasn't true. You
would have
found a way to save, me, I know it in my
bones, in
my soul." Her eyes never wavered from his,
and she
willed him to believe it with every fiber of
her being.
"It - it
wasn't you?" His features twisted in
confusion
and terrified hope.
"No, no,
it wasn't," Marie sighed. "It wasn't me at
all.
I'm alive and I'm here with you now."
"Marie?"
He brought both bloodied, broken hands up to
cradle her
face.
"It's me,
sugar. Right here. I'm right here with
you.
Oh, Logan, I've missed you so much............"
She saw
that his fog had lifted, that she was getting
through,
and she collapsed against him, crying in
earnest
now.
"Marie,
darlin', it's really you?" She nodded against
his shoulder.
"I - I thought I lost ya. I thought -
oh, God..........."
He squeezed her tightly and his
breathing
began to calm. "Oh, Marie......"
"Don't let
go," she whispered.
"Never,
never," Logan responded feverishly. "Never,"
he said
more firmly as he gently pushed her back from
him to get
a good look at her. She was covered in his
blood and
tissue, her white dress sporting angry red
stains.
She looked like a battle-scarred angel now,
and she
supposed that's what she was.
"I love
you," she whispered, still crying.
"I must
be dreamin'," Logan replied, not meaning the
words literally
and clearly back in reality now. "My
angel......"
He hugged her to him again and they both
finally
relaxed a little.
Just then,
she heard the Professor calling to her in
her head.
He said he'd found something that might
work.
Never mind, Einstein, she sent back.
A year later,
on Halloween, Marie dressed, readying
herself
for the annual Halloween party. She wasn't
going as
an angel this year - it would bring too many
painful
memories home to Logan. After the night he
came home,
after last Halloween, she'd burned the
costume
and had even shredded the foil halo. That
night, and
in the year to come, she was always
vigilant
about avoiding anything that might cause
Logan pain
or distress.
He was doing
well, she thought. He still wasn't quite
'back to
normal.' The Professor and Jean, even Hank,
thought
he probably never would be. Marie reflected
that their
diagnosis had caused them all to express
concern
for her - concern that she was limiting her
activities
to ease Logan's fears, concern that he was
stifling
her by insisting that she remain constantly
in his sight,
concern that she was sacrificing
opportunities
for college, friendships, for 'normal'
teenage
life for him - but they never expressed
concern
for Logan.
"You look
pretty." Logan came up behind her and met
her eyes
in the mirror. He wrapped his arms around
her waist
and nuzzled her hair.
"You look
handsome." He smiled at that and her own
smile widened.
She loved making him smile.
"Stay close
to me tonight." Marie had convinced Logan
to go to
the party, promising not to be more than an
arm's reach
away the whole time. She also promised
that they
wouldn't stay longer than a half hour. "I
don't wanna
lose ya."
"I know,"
she said softly, turning in his embrace to
face him.
"Did I mention that you look very
handsome?"
That got her the smile she'd expected.
"I ain't
even wearin' a costume." He stroked her
cheek gently,
with one bent finger. It had become a
familiar
gesture. Marie often thought it was a small
way to reassure
himself that she was there, that she
was real,
that the trauma he'd experienced was indeed
over.
"You don't
need one. You make a perfect Logan, just
like that."
She smoothed his flannel shirt down and
looked at
him with simple but rapt affection.
"I like
your costume." Marie thought he would. It
wasn't too
revealing or too demure. It hugged her
curves,
but also concealed the finer details of her
figure.
Plus, dressing up as a ballerina had a nice,
light, life-affirming
quality to it. She'd never
noticed
how many Halloween costumes - mummies,
vampires,
zombies - had unpleasant back-from-the-dead
connotations
until now. "Marie, you're gonna stay
close to
me, right?"
"Right."
Her staying close, him not wanting to lose
her again,
and him vowing to protect her were all
frequent
topics of discussion, whether the outing was
something
as simple as breakfast downstairs or
something
as complex as a trip to the mall. Marie was
always quick
to provide constant reassurance, but
Logan's
heart still beat a little faster whenever they
left their
room for any reason. "I love you a lot,
you know?"
"Me too.
I'm gonna take good care of ya this time,
Marie.
I am."
"I know,
sugar."
Logan took
her face in both hands, seemingly searching
for the
right words for a moment. "I couldn't take
losin' ya.
I couldn't take it. Anythin' else -
whatever
kinda shit the government or Magneto or
whoever
wantsta put me through, fine. I couldn't ever
take losin'
you."
"I need
you with me too."
"No," Logan
shook his head. "You don't, darlin', not
like that.
It's not the same. You'd - you'd find a
way to get
through it and you'd be OK. And I wanna
have it
like that. I don't wantcha to be like me that
way.
You're - you've got a lotta good things in your
life.
I got just one. You. If I lose that, well,
there's
nothin' else worth goin' on for, you know? I
don't wanna
lose you." Tears formed in Marie's soft
brown eyes
and made their way down her pink-glittered
cheeks as
Logan continued. "Anythin' for you, kid.
Anythin'
to keep you safe. It's worth it. It's all
worth it
'cause without you, I just - I couldn't do
it, you
know? It'd be like livin' one day in heaven
and then
knowin' you hadta spend the rest of your life
in the worst
hell. That's what it was like when I
thought
- " He cut himself off, remembering that Marie
sometimes
got uncontrollably sad when he talked about
it too much.
"I just can't lose ya."
"You won't."
She hugged him to her, her crinoline
tutu making
little crunchy noises as she did. "Not
ever.
I'm not ever going to leave you and you're
never going
to leave me. That's - that's how it'll
be, I promise
that."
"I know
you're givin' up a lot to make it that way.
And I wish
I didn't - I wish I wasn't - I wish I
didn't need
- "
"It's OK.
It's OK. Logan," Marie pushed back from
him a little
to look him in the eye, "I need this too.
I need
to be right with you all the time too. You -
you scared
me a lot when you were - when it was bad.
That's what
I couldn't take. I couldn't take knowing
you were
hurting because of me. I couldn't ever live
with that.
So - so it's a good thing that we're
sticking
so close together, you know? That's just
right -
that's how it should be for both of us."
"Yeah?"
Logan brushed her lips with his thumb,
gently.
"Yeah,"
Marie answered confidently. "Come on, let's
get this
over with." She winked at him to bolster his
spirits.
"You know,
I fuckin' hate Halloween," Logan mused as
he allowed
himself to be led by the hand to the door.
"I don't
like tricks."
"Then this
one will be just treats," Marie answered
sunnily.
It got the hoped-for grin out of Logan.
"Come on,
let's make an appearance and head back up
here.
I've got a treat or two for you." That got an
even bigger
grin.
"Deal, darlin',"
Logan agreed, shutting the door
behind them.
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