AN - Characters of Meadow and Henri belong to E. Bowler, the rest is the amazing work of Stan Lee and co.
(Lines in italics are thoughts.)
Enjoy.
Chapter 2
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"This is cozy."
It was the dumbest thing Wolverine could think of, but the words slipped off his tongue, the beer bottle coming straight onto his lips.
"Do you want another beer?" Henri asked smiling.
Logan looked around the room, surveying the scene, the only odd looks coming from a man hidden in shadow.
Logan sniffed the air and growled low to himself. Henri couldn't get over it, the masculinity he possessed in that one noise, it overwhelmed her.
"I don't think I like this place anymore."
"Why? What do you sense?" She asked cautiously.
"Ok so we've covered enough Disney and movie trivia for one night." Warren laughed walking to the edge of the lake, the evening having cooled dramatically. "I never knew I'd watched so many films?" Warren sighed slightly. "Too much time to myself…."
Meadow nodded in understanding and came closer to the winged mutant before laying on her front in the grass, starring at the calm water, the moon now reflecting on its surface.
Warren knew she'd done that for his sake, sitting normally was impossible unless his wings had enough space to hang down, otherwise it just hurt.
Warren stood still and watched the contours of her body as she shuffled in the grass, an obvious sign the grass was prickling her bare legs. He swallowed and let his eyes wander over her ankles and her trim calves, noting the moles and freckles that lay dotted here and there. She'd slipped her trainers off and her toes were curling in the grass; a mind of their own. The shorts she wore only gave him enough view of a quarter of her creamy thigh but it was enough for him. His eyes wandered over her backside and to the dip in her lower back, her shoulders now being illuminated by the light of the moon, her hair looking a shade lighter, almost platinum like his own. He liked it how she wasn't at all super skinny or athletic. She carried her curves better than Rogue or Storm and often he had to tell himself to concentrate on her pretty cherub face, not that he didn't anway by any means. He found himself lucky to have discovered her sweet smile, full of laughter, a sound he'd come to treasure recently. He swallowed again and lay beside her, his strong arms taking his weight with complete ease. His wings folding in but relaxed enough and onefoundit's way to be touching the side of meadows body.
"Are they a bastard to wash?" Meadow asked turning her face to him and without warning brushing a part of them.
"They're waterproof….to a degree, but when they're soaked, it does feel uncomfortable……if you see two hairdryers in my room it's not that I'm vain at all." Warren laughed.
She turned to him from being mesmerized by the soft wings and smiled without showing her teeth. "We'll have to head back soon, Logan and Henri may be back."
"Henri will cover us and I'm sure, they're not back yet, like I said before, I think Logan is smitten. But if you feel like we're gonna be late, give me a shout, I can always fly us back to the mansion?"
"True." Meadow smirked. "Let's just hope no one is watching from their windows or they'll give the game away."
The pair looked out to the water and starred, a slight uncomfortableness overcoming them.
"You said…..about your dad…..are you going to still see him?"
Warren hadn't looked as uneasy as Meadow would have thought. He took his time to speak, but did talk.
"I hope so, one day…I guess, maybe?"
Another silence.
"What about your family then? You haven't spoken about them yet."
"I don't want to, I'm not too sure who is family anymore, like yourself……I find them then I loose them…..I guess Henri feels like family though, when I see her."
"You two related?"
"Cousins, kinda."
"Oh."
"I couldn't have come here by myself, you're very brave."
Warren smiled uneasy.
Another silence enveloped the pair.
"Does the cure actually work?"
Warren paused and then shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno?...My father forced me to take it….but I managed to back out of it…well I actually just flew through a window, not even thinking straight and I ended up here…."
"Did you hurt yourself?"
Warren turned his face to her and nodded sheepishly but smiled. It caused the same smile to erupt on Meadows face.
"But if I had Wolverines power I'd be hurling myself out of windows all the time." Warren chirped.
Meadow smiled and rolled her eyes. "We better head back, I'll have to jog sometime to make it look like I worked up a sweat.
"Stay still."
It was female instinct that made Meadow panic about what he was to say, but before he could speak, she'd shot up and waved her hands in a frenzy.
"Get it out, get it out!"
"Wait, wait!" Warren cried standing up close to her, grabbing her top arms and steadying her. His hand moved to her cheek and reached higher. Tracing his fingers through a lock of her hair he closed his palm and showed her he'd caught something. Meadow squealed and battered his hand away from her making Warren laugh at her ridiculous noises.
"I hate HATE spiders."
"It's okay; it was only a lady bird." Warren chuckled opening his palm and watching the little creature walk around not bothered about anything.
"Little bastard." Meadow muttered tempted to touch it.
Warren put it on a leaf and smiled to her.
Meadow caught her breath, steadying her weight on each foot. "Come on Doctor Doolittle, let's head back." She tried to joke.
"Listen I'll fly us. Besides I'm enjoying your hissy fits."
"I thought it was a spider, okay?"
Warren laughed. "Come here." He spoke still laughing embracing her with humor. "I'll protect you from the dangers of the wilderness, I'm not a x-man for just any reason you know." He mocked, putting on a deeper voice.
Meadow suppressed her laugh trying to glare at him as she looked up to his face, realizing for the first time how close she was to Warren. It was at that point Warren realized the same thing.
"We'd better head back, H, or those kids will have field day if were not back."
Logan stood and took Henri's hand again. She still couldn't get use to this aspect of Logan, the contact between them growing.
They made to leave and as they did so the man in the corner rose.
"Grey? Henri Grey?"
Henri squinted until the man came out the shadows.
"I'm sorry I think you are mi…..." Henri stopped dead in their tracks with Logan and looked on at the man.
"Henri Grey, it is you."
"Listen buddy, what do you want? Logan mumbled but stopped as he recognized the man. A growl emitted from his chest. "Whatta ya want Lensherr?"
"Nothing my dear boy, I just came for a simple beer, that's all. I just thought I recognized someone you see….I just thought this beautiful young woman, belonged in the Grey family is all, it's obvious she doesn't, she says so." Erik Lensherr put on his hat and smiled bidding the pair goodbye.
Logan looked on till he walked out the door and his brow tensed as he looked to Henri for an explanation, but all she could do was stare into space, her mouth gasping ever so lightly.
The closeness gave Meadow a tingling in her body but she just starred, a look of a thousand emotions crossing her face. She backed out of Warren's embrace but he stepped after her and took her hands.
Meadow didn't let go and neither did Warren.
"I?" Meadow mumbled, feeling nervous.
Warren smiled sincerely and kept his distance. He himself was nervous as hell, but something inside him told him to keep contact with her, he knew he didn't want to let her go.
He smiled again, urging her to relax about the situation. He'd never really felt so comfortable with anyone in his life, especially a young woman. His days of courting had been shattered by his father, use of communication skills disappearing and an overwhelming sense of nervousness about his wings flooding his brain whenever a young lady had smiled and tried to talk to him.
Warren took a step closer and took her lips in a soft kiss, urging her mouth to part for him.
"Warren, I ….." Meadow tried to speak between the kiss, turning her head.
Warren looked and stopped smiling and noticed the tingling feeling in his hands. He tried to pull them from Meadow's grip but it felt like she was holding them too tightly. He looked back up to her and saw the worried look cross her face.
"Meadow you need to let go of my hands now." He spoke softly and calming. "Let, go."
Meadow made a sob in her throat and Warren started to panic, his hands feeling heavier and heavier.
"Meadow?" Warren cried as he saw his soft hands turn a cold shade of grey, the tingling feeling becoming painful. "Please let go!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She cried in devastation and worry as she tried to pull her own body away from him, her hands not wanting to leave their vice like grip on Warren's.
Warren panicked and his wings flew out quicker than he'd expected, flapping frantically in confusion, trying to pull his body away. The draft blew Meadow's hair away from her face and she closed her eyes and cried.
"Help us?" Warren cried into the night.
A figure clad in white ran through the trees to the opening and dashed to the blond girl.
Warren noticed the air becoming strong and he saw the figure of Miss Munroe flying down to them, her eyes wide with the scene.
"It's ok Warren, Emma, help her."
"Ok sweetheart, listen to me, listen to me and concentrate on my voice, my voice is the only thing you can hear, the strongest thing you can concentrate on."
"Get out my head." Meadow cried, tears flooding her cheeks. "Who are you? I? I?..."
Storm ran to Warren and took his arms from behind him, her arms reaching from under his wings giving him some support. Though his massive wings blocked her from the scene, Warren was glad to have the physical support, he felt.
"Don't struggle Warren, okay." She soothed.
Warren nodded; his heart beat multiplied a hundred times.
"Think of my voice Meadow, listen to it, let go of Warren's hands, it's a simple as that, you can do it, picture your hands opening."
"It won't let me." Meadow cried.
"Picture them opening, every digit relaxing, see the light come back to your hands, no grey, no stone."
A few seconds seemed like minutes in Warren's mind but he felt Meadows grip loosen, his own hands firmly still and grey.
Meadow slid her hands from Warren's and fell knees first onto the ground, sobbing like a little child. Emma Frost grabbed her and cradled her briefly. Storm took hold of Warren and lead him back to the mansion. "Emma, tell Hank to meet us." Storm spoke over her shoulder as she led a pale Warren into the trees.
"C'mon sweetheart, it's ok." Emma spoke rubbing Meadows arms, trying to sooth her.
The bike journey had been silent the whole way and Henri had an unpleasant feeling. The man at the bar had been a distant memory to her. Perhaps years ago, yet his face was fresh in her mind.
Magneto
Ten minutes had felt like a long drive and Logan was furious. Furious that that bum had been in the same bar as he was and furious he was as close to the mansion as he was. The worst part of it was the fact Henri had been silent the whole journey. Ok, so he had been silent and brooding but she'd put her helmet on and sat behind him, her arms not feeling their tightness that she'd had previously, a tightness that had made her fingers roam over his stomach causing Logan to focus on the road a bit better.
Lights were on when they pulled up and both exchanged the same glance as they walked into the mansion carefully.
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"Logan, my God, where the hell have you been, I thought you were meant to be watching the two of them?"
Both Logan and Henri starred in disbelief at Ororo's out burst.
"We are so lucky Miss Frost popped by to see Hank, otherwise, well, I don't know." She finished, slapping her thighs and gesturing, her arms wide.
"Why? What the hell's gone on?" Logan grunted his bad mood now evident.
"Is everything ok?" Henri asked worried.
"Err…" Storm put her hand to her fore head. "You'd best go and see Meadow, she's in her room."
Henri looked at Storm for another few seconds and then to Logan before she dashed up the stairs quickly.
Storm starred at Logan as Logan tried to light a cigar, his leather jacket, shrugged off his back.
"You were meant to be watching them I heard."
"And?"
"And? Something bad happened and now Warren's in the medical room Logan."
"What?" Logan asked through his cigar.
"His hands are stone, for the moment, immobile."
"She did that to him?" Logan asked in disbelief.
"It was an accident."
"Hey, it ain't my business what the two of 'em do in their own time."
"Logan this is no time for joking. We have a mutant upstairs who is dangerous… to herself. Now she didn't mean what she did but her powers are uncontrollable. If Emma wasn't around we'd have never known what was happening before its too late."
"Which is?"
"Logan she can turn people to stone and she can't control how she does it? Warren said all he did was try to kiss her and she freaked out….ahh, the point is, YOU should have been around. You shouldn't have let your personal life get in the way of our students till you knew it was safe to do so."
"But I didn't know did I?" Logan replied a bit harsher than he intended to say.
"It won't happen again Logan." Storm spoke as she tuned on her heel and walked passed him.
"Meadow?" The voice came after the knock.
A tall blonde woman stood up from next to Meadow and smiled. "You must be Henri?"
"Yes." Henri replied walking over to the bed and embracing Meadow, who still was staring into space, silent
"Hey Meadow, it's okay, it's gonna be okay." Henri softly spoke.
Henri turned to Emma who was walking to the door inclining her head for Henri to join her.
Outside the door Emma noticed the students peering from their doors. "In your rooms please." She spoke eyeing up and down the corridor.
"What the hell's gone on?" Henri asked hands on hips, trying not to raise her voice.
"Tonight, there's been an incident. Meadow caused Warren's hands to turn to stone."
"Shit…"
"The problem is how long does this effect last for and what precautions do we have to take for the boy? That's were you come in; you need to tell us about Meadow and her mutation. We can't talk to Meadow herself she's in shock, she's…." Emma left her sentence and hurried through Meadow's door, Henri straight behind her.
"My God, Meadow NO!"
Meadow was looking in her mirror and had her palm on her cheek.
"No meadow." Herni shouted grabbing her arm away, enveloping the young woman who was now crying her eyes out. "Warren's gonna be ok, don't punish yourself."
Emma watched the scene with worry and asked Hank and Storm to come upstairs.
Logan had made his way up to the room and peered through the door.
"You can come in Logan." Emma spoke as if it was here own room, eyeing the Wolverine with a slick smile.
Logan saw the women and swallowed his, throat a little dry. He looked to Henri and found he couldn't speak to her, not with Meadow and Emma in the room.
"I, err, just wanted to see, if,….well….?" Logan mumbled, making his way back out into the corridor. He paused a couple of seconds, perhaps waiting for someone to want to talk to him and noticed or at least sensed eyes peering from behind closed doors. "In your rooms if you wanna see tomorrow." He growled loud and menacingly before he stalked off downstairs. It was going to be a long night.