Careless Moment, Lifetime Regrets

by Kerri

Part 4

Let it out, breathe, don't let them in, don't let them see you crack, kill that son of a bitch for doing this to you, don't hurt him - you love him, how can you love any man who's been hiding for 50 years, why couldn't he just stay dead, what about Jess, how can he do this to his son, my son, dammit.

Charlotte stood watching Logan walk away from her, damn him.

:::Hmm, a woman threatenin' my life. Now I know I'm in love:::

He didn't just say that. How dare he?!

No conscious thought made it to her reason centers. She saw RED. She attacked.

He knew she was coming. Hell, she made enough noise to warn half the state of New York. He ducked the running kick to his shoulder, catching her before she lost her balance. It didn't stop her, she struck again, all the anger and terror and pain merging into one all consuming urge to kill. She wanted to crush him under her feet and make him as dead as he should have been.

Logan stumbled back from her attack, holding an arm up to fend her off while she swung and kicked at him, connecting painfully with his jaw, his knee and stomach.

He got both hands on her, squeezing her wrists behind her back to force her into submission, bringing her up against his chest. "I ain' gonna fight ya," he growled into her face. He hadn't realized she was the same height he was, maybe a bit taller, he couldn't look down and intimidate her.

She stopped struggling and glared at him.

He released her, then turned away again.

Bad move. She gave in too quickly.

This time she used some logic, and a psi-masking field. The leap put her in the perfect position, the hold on his neck was secure. She brought him down, rolling out of the way in a smooth practiced move. Then she jumped back on him while he was still shaking out his head, bringing a thick arm back in a lock, fingers pressing a nerve to deaden the arm. A TK field worked well in keeping him down while she concentrated on the hold.

"Mom!" Jazz shouted and jumped out of his chair.

"Why don'cha let go, darlin', b'fore ya get hurt," Logan grunted out. How'd she managed to do that? She was stronger than she looked, her hand was like iron squeezing into his flesh. He pulled back, feeling his arm begin to tingle. She was using something to keep him down, and he didn't like it one bit. The second she let go he was going to teach her a little something about fair play. Not like he'd ever learned about that himself.

She moved the armlock slowly, from just uncomfortable to the world of hurt he talked about so often. "Say that again?" she asked nicely. Her knee found the sweet spot at the base of his spine and used it to her advantage.

"Perhaps we have another candidate for the Danger Room," Hank suggested.

"Hello, Dr. McCoy," Charlotte said in a reasonable voice, watching Logan's face turn red where she pushed him into the grass. A bug struggling on a pin couldn't have held more fascination for her. "It's pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. I read your latest paper on the Legacy virus, and I was very impressed by your conclusions."

Hank's brow furrowed. "Thank you, dear lady." She sounded as though they were talking over tea, rather than over Wolverine's quickly numbing body. The more he strained against her hold on him, the happier she became, as though she fed off the agitation and fury he growled out at her. She literally glowed.

"Mom, let him go."

"Jess, honey, this has nothing to do with you."

"It has everything to do with me. Take this to their Danger Room and work it out there."

"I like it here. The only thing that would make it better would be a sword."

"Y'wanna fight, lady, I'll fight ya," Logan spat the words out, along with a few blades of grass. "We'll do it fair. No ambushin'. We'll even do it yer way."

"Fair, you want fair after a half century? You're certainly asking for a great deal from someone you don't remember."

"Scared o' me? Scared to do this right?"

She lifted up on the arm. "Scared is such a funny word. I don't think so." Using her knees for leverage to free a hand, she reached into her boot, a shiny length of metal glimmered in her hand. A burst of cleansing fury raced its way through her as she brought the knife down in a sweeping arc towards his...

A blast of energy knocked her off and sent her tumbling back a few yards. Other people rushed towards them, stopping at Logan's prostrate body, his growls assuring everyone he was still okay, just damned good and mad.

"What's going on here?!" Scott's voice demanded. He stopped to pick up her knife, squinting at the razor sharp edge.

Jazz knelt next to his mother where she laid stretched out on the grass, stunned. Tom was losing his touch, he didn't get all her weapons at the beginning like he was supposed to.

She grinned up at her son. "Are we having fun yet?"

He nearly groaned aloud. "Making a good impression here, Mom."

End Part 4.

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