For Better, For Worse - Part Two

by Khaki


When Logan walked into their room, he found Marie, holding a pile of folded shirts and standing between her recently unpacked suitcase, open again on the bed, and the dresser where the shirts had been. The smell of tension and worry filled the air.

"What's up?" he asked. "We moving?"

"I..." Marie looked down at her hands and then put the shirts back in their drawer. "I want... Oh, I don't know what I want."

Logan felt real fear grip his heart. Was she leaving him? Did she think the marriage was a mistake? She seemed fine this morning. Frantically, he reviewed his actions earlier that day, trying to think what he could possibly have done to upset her so much.

"It's... It's my parents."

'Whoa, time out. What's going on?' Logan thought. Aloud, he said, "Your parents? What did they do?"

"Nothing. That's... well that's the problem. It's... it's just, I don't know where they are."

"Darlin', you haven't seen or spoken to 'em in four years."

"Yes, but I always wrote to them. And now... You know how I told you I invited them to the wedding?"

"Yep."

"Well, I found this with Kitty and Jubes today," she said, handing him the returned envelope.

Her parents hadn't even opened it; it was just marked 'return to sender.' No wonder Marie was so upset, but what did this have to do with the suitcase?

Seeing his confused expression, Marie added, "I called the post office. They said that there's no residence at that address anymore, and when I tried to call my parents, I found out that their number had been changed."

"Sounds like they left town," Logan said with a shrug.

"But they wouldn't do that. They've lived in that house since they were newlyweds. Besides, they were getting my letters there."

"Maybe they had to leave. The way you described it, before you left a lot of people knew they had a mutant daughter."

"That's just what has me worried. What if something happened to them? I mean, what if... because of me..."

"So what are you standing around for? Let's get packed, and we'll leave tonight."

Marie sighed and started listing out her concerns. "Logan, we've already been gone for three weeks. The professor is counting on us to be here."

"The professor can handle things without us for a little longer," Logan countered.

"Well, the next semester's coming up, and I have to start classes."

"You can always skip this semester and go back in the spring."

"What if..." Marie started, finally getting to her real worry. "What if we find out that there's nothing wrong and that they just don't want to see me anymore?"

"Then we'll know you're adopted, 'cause there's no way you could've come from people as stupid as that."

Marie smiled a little at that, and then her expression turned serious. "Logan, I'm really worried. What if I can't find them again?"

"That's why we're going, Marie. You start packing, and I'll go tell the professor."

**********

Two days later, they were riding in Logan's Jeep, driving through the familiar residential streets to her house. It was a chilly day, so she was wearing a long sleeved blouse and short gloves which stopped at her wrists. She hated wearing long, opera-length gloves with long sleeves, because they were such a hassle to get on and take off. Besides, no one was getting close to her but Logan, and she trusted him.

When they finally arrived, Logan parked the Jeep in front of a vacant lot that used to be her home. The trees were there; the driveway, sidewalk, and foundation were all intact, just no more house. Worse yet, it looked like it had been this way for years.

Marie was stunned. All these years, had she been writing letters to an empty field? Did her parents receive even one of her letters? Did they know she was ok? Were they searching for her now, or were they hiding from her? Why was the house gone?

Logan suggested they talk to the neighbors, and Marie knew exactly where to go. Climbing out of the Jeep, she walked across the street to Becky Tucker's house. Becky had been the one to update her on David's condition so very long ago. Her family had been in that house longer than Marie had been alive. Even if Becky was off at college, they would know what had happened to her parents. They might also be able to tell her what had become of David. She'd wondered about him so many times over the years.

Ringing the doorbell, Marie heard footsteps approaching and then a young woman opened the door. She was in luck. Becky was home. "Becky!"

The woman looked back at her, confused, and then recognition flittered across her face, followed quickly by fear. "Marie?!?! No!!!" Becky yelled, shutting and bolting the door.

Marie could hear her running away, toward the back of the house, and then turned to look at Logan, her confusion mirrored in his features. "Marie, what the hell just happened?"

"I... she was my friend. I don't know," Marie stuttered.

Logan looked around the neighborhood, and pointing back across the street, said, "Let's talk to her."

There was an older woman gardening in the yard next door to the vacant lot. That was where the Coopers had lived, but Marie didn't recognize her. She was probably new to the neighborhood. Still shaken by what had happened with Becky, she nodded to Logan, silently asking him to take the lead.

"Um, excuse me," Logan started. When the woman looked up, he continued. "We were looking for the people who lived in the lot next door."

"No one lives there. It's been an empty field for years."

"Yeah, we know no one lives there now. We were looking for the family that used to live there about four or five years ago."

"I've only lived here two years, myself."

Logan rolled his eyes at Marie in exasperation, "We were just wondering if you could tell us what happened to them."

The woman looked up suspiciously. "Are you interested in buying the property."

Logan looked at Marie and then back at the woman. "No."

"Good. Otherwise I couldn't tell you what happened. That real estate agent gets really annoyed when I tell people. She says I'm scaring off potential customers. I'm only telling what I heard. There's no harm in that, is there?"

"No. No harm at all," Logan encouraged, hoping they would finally find out what was going on.

"Well, the folks next door had a mutie daughter," the woman began. Marie cringed slightly at the reference to herself, but the woman didn't seem to notice.

"They'd lived here for twenty years when the girl does her mutant powers thing and almost kills her best friend. From what I hear, that scared the shit out of the whole neighborhood, the whole state, in fact. You woulda seen it on the news. Mutie girl put that boy in a coma for weeks." She paused, looking from Logan to Marie and back again for confirmation.

"No," Logan said, lying quickly. "We were in New York then."

"I heard it even made national news, but you might not remember it," the woman continued. She told them about the media circus, about the mutant scare, and how she thought the girl should've been locked up good, then and there.

All this talk of those terrible weeks unnerved Marie more than she'd like to admit. She wished the gray-haired bigot would just finish up and tell her where her parents were, but the woman was engrossed in her tale now.

A few minutes had passed when Logan stiffened beside her, and Marie thought that it must be because the woman's story was really starting to annoy him. They weren't learning anything new, and Marie was just about to interrupt and excuse themselves when the woman said, "The fire surprised everyone."

"What?" Marie asked. She'd only been half listening to the anti-mutant tirade the woman had worked up to.

"The fire," the woman answered. "Burned down a little over half the house, and ruined the rest."

Then Marie heard what Logan must've been startled by earlier: police sirens, faint in the distance but getting closer.

"It was a total write-off, I hear," the woman continued. "They bulldozed what was left, but kept the foundation for a new building. Of course, when people hear about the murders, they just aren't interested in..."

Marie fell back against Logan, who was standing close behind her. His support was the only thing keeping her upright. She whispered the next question, wanting to ask, but dreading the answer. "The murders?"

"Yep. That mutant girl went crazy after she found out that the boy she'd hurt would be damaged for life. She cut up her parents pretty good and burned down the house."

Logan's support was no longer enough. Her legs gave out under her suddenly incredible weight, and it was only his quick reflexes that kept her from falling to the ground.

'Dead?' she thought. 'They're dead? They've been dead since I left. They... someone murdered them. Because of me? Please, God, don't let it be because of me.'

The police sirens were wailing now as a cruiser pulled around the block and came to a stop at the house across the street. Before the police were out of the car, Becky was running up to them yelling and pointing at Marie, "There she is! She's the one! She came back to kill me, too. You've got to stop her."

**********

Logan helped Marie get back on her feet. She looked stunned, and she didn't answer when he asked if she was ok. Then the police cruiser arrived and that little bitch, Becky, started screaming at them to arrest Marie.

The cops immediately pulled their guns: .357 magnums, police issue. He couldn't think of how he knew that. He didn't remember ever handling a gun in his life, but he was sure that he was right.

"Freeze!" the taller one commanded, and Logan stopped. Those guns were pointed at Marie, and he wasn't taking any chances with trigger-happy cops.

"Step away from the girl."

Logan didn't want to. Marie needed his support right now. "Look, she can't..."

The measured, serious tone of the tall officer interrupted him. "Step away from her, now."

"Marie," Logan whispered. "I've gotta let you go, but I'm not goin' far, ok?" Then he released her, taking a few steps away.

The tall guy wasn't satisfied until Logan was several feet away from Marie. Then, he kept a bead on them both as his pudgy partner took out his cuffs and approached Marie.

"Marie Trent," he said. "You are under arrest for the murder of George and Rachel Trent. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law..."

As the short guy read Marie her rights, Logan could see tears falling from her face unfettered. It killed him to see her like this and be unable to console her.

The little cop finally finished and commanded Marie, "Place your hands on your head. Turn around."

Logan watched as the cop grabbed Marie's left arm and pulled it down to be cuffed. He saw Marie stiffen, and he heard her whisper, "Please, my skin..."

Her gloves! She was wearing short gloves. If that cop wasn't careful... Logan took a step forward, only to be warned away by the tall cop. He protested, saying, "Look, she's a mutant. If your partner touches her skin..." but he was too late.

Hearing Marie's gasp he turned back to see the small guy's hand touching her bare wrist. He could see the veins in the cop's face throbbing as her mutation took effect, then Marie pulled away and the cop fell.

The taller officer had turned his attention fully to Marie, lining up a shot. Logan didn't have time to charge him, didn't have time to push Marie out of the way. Instead, he ran between the two, protecting Marie with his body.

The bullet ripped through him and blew out his back, creating a huge exit wound. He ran forward, charging the cop before he could get off another shot, and ripped the the gun apart with his claws before punching the man unconscious.

He could feel his back pulling itself together as he turned to look at Marie. Her appearance shocked him. She was on her knees, blood pumping from her chest. .357 magnums were powerful guns; he knew that. The bullet had gone through his body and still had enough wallop to take Marie down.

Running to her side, he could tell that she was gravely wounded. Police cars were approaching from both directions now. Becky had probably warned them they were going against a "dangerous fugitive" and these first two cops just hadn't waited for backup.

There was no way they would escape in the car, Logan knew. The streets were probably being blocked as he crouched there. Gingerly picking up Marie, he took off, running through backyards and down side streets. She was losing blood so quickly, though.

Stopping in a narrow alley between houses, Logan set Marie down and considered his options. She wouldn't survive much longer unless he touched her, but if he did, his gunshot wound would reopen and he'd be unable to escape. The choice was easy.

Pulling his wife into his arms, he kissed her, feeling the connection open and willing his healing ability into her. He repeated a message over and over in his head until the darkness came and he fell away from her.

Marie sat up, the pain in her chest suddenly gone. She knew what had happened when she heard Logan's voice in her head. It was repeating, over and over, "Run, Marie."


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