Disclaimer: Lena, Caleb, Annie, assorted bar patrons and fastfood clerks are the products of my fevered imagination. Everyone else in the story is property of Marvel. Uncredited song lyrics are from the Golden Palominos.
"Blue."
Annie handed a thin blue wire up to Lena who sat behind her holding a comb between her teeth.
"So do you think m...Logan liked the crane?"
"I think he loved it, sweetie. That was really nice of you," Lena replied, as she deftly braided the neon blue wire into Annie's dark hair.
"He's really nice."
"Yeah, he is. Pink."
"Did he used to be your boyfriend?"
"No, honey. He was more like what I am to you and Cay."
"Oh, he's like your big brother?"
"Yeah. How about yellow now?"
"Sure." She handed the wire up. Lena couldn't see the confused expression on Annie's face.
"Lena, I don't think Logan thinks you're his little sister."
"I don't think he quite knows what to think about me, honey. It's been a long time since he's seen me."
"Caleb thinks he likes you."
"Caleb thinks a lot of things that aren't so."
"Can he really smell everything?"
Lena stopped in her work for a second. "What?"
"Caleb said that Logan could smell everything."
"He has a heightened sense of smell, honey. It's kind of like what a dog or a wolf has. He can smell things a lot better than a normal person can."
"Caleb says if somebody farts, Logan can tell who did it."
"This is why I keep telling you not to believe everything Caleb says. He's just playing with you."
That seemed to shut Annie up for a moment. Lena started combing up another section of hair. Finally, Annie couldn't take it any longer.
"Can Logan smell me?"
Lena rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. She was definitely going to have to have a conversation with Caleb. "You have a scent, honey. So do I; so does everybody."
"Do you think it smells funny to Logan?"
"You're really concerned about this aren't you?"
Annie shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Well, I just don't want to smell funny."
"Annie, I am absolutely certain that you smell just fine. And anyway, you have to understand that it's different for Logan. It's like it is for the Professor with thoughts. Now you know that the Professor gets stray thoughts all the time. If he listened to all of them, he'd never get anything done. That's why he's learned to tune them out. Logan does the same thing with smells. You have to figure that if he's getting all sorts of smells coming from everything all the time, he doesn't have time to think about what you smell like. Okay?"
"Okay. . . but if I get gas when he's around, I'm just gonna leave the room."
"If that'll make you feel better about it, I'm sure that'll be fine with Logan." Lena put the comb down and picked up the mirror. "Okay, you ready to take a look?"
"Yep."
Lena held up the mirror so that Annie could see the multicolored cornrow braids that ran down behind her left ear. "Cool!"
"You're welcome. Why don't you go show Jubilee your new 'do?"
Annie hopped up from the chair. "Did you know that her favorite colors are blue and pink and yellow too?"
"Yeah, I think you mentioned that. Pretty big coincidence, huh? Most people only have one favorite color but you two not only have three, they're the same three."
"See ya."
"Don't forget you have a session with the Professor in an hour." Lena called to Annie's retreating back.
As soon as Annie was out of earshot, Logan walked into the room. His grin was threatening to split his face in two. Lena couldn't maintain her composure and laughter exploded out of her. The next lines were delivered in gasps between fits of shaking laughs.
"That poor little thing. She's really got herself worked up into a tizzy."
"I know. I'm gonna kill Caleb next time I see him. I'm just glad he didn't mention the super-hearing."
"Maybe I oughta try and talk to her tonight?"
That was too much. Lena tried to pull herself together and finally she choked out. "I don't think so."
"Why?"
Tears were now streaming down Lena's face as she desperately held onto her sides. "It's burrito night!"
They both broke into a new wave of gasping hysterical laughter.
---------------------------------
Caleb and Lena came into the room slowly, a little unsure of themselves. They both wore traditional Karate uniforms and carried staffs. Various people were working out in small groups. It looked like a large gymnasium, but there were quite a few odd projections on the walls and ceiling; Lena couldn't guess their purpose.
"Hey guys," Jubilee hollered out to them as she flew by overhead. "Welcome to the Danger Room." She let go of the trapeze swing, flipped over and landed easily a few feet away from them.
"Hello Chica, jou pretty good on that thing."
"Yeah well, you wouldn't believe what a hard time they give you here if you aren't killing yourself with practice twennyfourseven.
"Hi Jubilee, the Professor told us that we could workout here. Is it okay?" Lena asked her.
"Yeah, for another," she looked at her watch, "two hours. Then my team is running simulations. That's why we're up here today."
"Whenever ye feel like rejoinin' the group, Miss Lee." A tall man with curly, blonde hair and an Irish accent called after her from the trapeze rig.
"Jeeze, Mr. Cassidy, I was just helping somebody over here." She leaned over to whisper in Caleb's ear, "see what'd I tell ya, slavedrivers every last one." She sighed theatrically and rolled her eyes before stomping back to her group.
"Damn she pretty."
"Focus, grasshopper. We're here to workout."
"Jeah, what she know about slavedrivers anyway? She never had to put up wit'jou."
She shoved him lightly with her free hand as they walked over to a mat. They laid the staffs down beside the mat and began practicing falls, just loosening up. Then they wrestled a bit, mixing Judo with whatever worked. Wrestling was difficult for Lena because of her size. Even when she pinned her brother with all her weight, he could easily break the hold. She had to resort to exploiting pressure points and nerve centers. Sometimes, when they weren't in a serious mood, this degenerated into tickling matches. Today certainly qualified and they went at each other until they were both red in the face and out of breath. Lena felt better than she had in a long time. Caleb was happy to see her relax and enjoy herself for once. They didn't notice everyone's confused stares as the people in the room tried to figure out who they were and what they were up to.
"Hey Gumbo, that's Lena and Caleb laughin'." Logan heard them as he and Remy returned from the garage.
"Inna Danger Room? Most don' find a lot to laugh about in der."
"I'm gonna see what they're up to."
"I'm wit you, mon ami."
They came in to see the tail end of the tickle fight. It was like watching puppies playing. Cay finally shut Lena down by sitting on her until she tapped out. Cay rolled off of his sister and came up onto his feet. He had begun to sweat in earnest and so he took off the jacket of his uniform and threw it toward the side wall.
"Psst, hey amigo." She whispered.
"What Lanie?"
"Shush! Don't turn around. A certain somebody seems ta be awful interested in what you look like without a shirt on."
"Really Lena, Jubie's lookin' at me?"
"Didn't I tell you to shush! Yeah she's lookin'. If I were you, I'd work the hair."
His grin widened for a fraction of a second and left his face as he nonchalantly reached up and undid the cord holding his ponytail. He ran his hands through his hair and flipped his head back to pull the loose hairs off of his neck and back into a ponytail. Then he redid the cord. The entire move was choreographed to look casual but actually show off all the muscles of his arms, chest and stomach. Lena had caught him practicing it in the mirror once. All his practice paid off because Jubilee's mouth opened into a perfect 'O' as she watched the show. Lena could barely hold in her laughter. When she turned her eyes away from the scene, she caught sight of Logan.
Logan must have heard the entire exchange though his face didn't betray it. She winked at him, merrily. Logan smiled back and wondered if Caleb had any idea what kind of trouble he was getting himself into.
"Is it working?" Caleb whispered to her.
"Like a charm Cay Cay. Hell, I'm starting to get a little excited myself." She teased him.
"Ha Ha, Lanie, very funny."
"Okay M'ijo, enough with the floor show. I came here to spar."
Caleb's face sunk. "Oh come on Lena, not today, not in front of the chica."
"Caleb!"
"Okay, I'll give you fifty bucks to throw it then."
"I'm not gonna throw it. Who knows you might just beat me anyway. I'm not in my best form you know."
"Jah right."
"Come on, Caleb, you promised."
He sighed heavily but went to the side of the mat and retrieved their staffs.
Logan saw right away why Caleb was less than optimistic. Lena was very good with a staff. Caleb couldn't keep up even though he had the advantage on strength and reach. Whoever had trained Lena had done a fantastic job of teaching her to exploit her strengths. She was unusually quick. He figured it must have been part of her mutation or an enhancement from the Program. She was also small enough to be a hard target. She hunkered down and fought from an extreme crouch to play up the advantage. Caleb regularly shoved his staff into the space Lena had been occupying. It left him overbalanced and vulnerable. Lena took him five matches of seven.
"Hey there, mes amis. Can I fight de winner?" Remy stood tall with his own staff held in his crossed arms.
"Jou bet, Ese. I'm done."
"Well uh, I uh guess so." She stammered to Remy. She grabbed her brother roughly by the neck and whispered into his ear, "are you out of your tiny mind? Staff's his weapon of choice for cryin' out loud."
"Yep, now all jou gotta do is kick his ass. That way, Jubilee'll see I'm not a spaz."
"Caleb!"
He shrugged his shoulders. "What can I say, Lanie? Payback's a bitch." He winked at her and went over to stand by Logan who leaned against the far wall. Logan kept his eyes glued on his own crossed arms and focused on keeping the grin from his face.
"Hang on a sec, Rem. I'm getting too hot." She took off her jacket, revealing a cropped, black sport bra. "Okay, old son," she grinned at him devilishly and gestured him forward with her hand, "lessee what you got." She took up her ready stance.
Logan was surprised to see his teammate loose the first match and the second. Remy had gone in a bit too confident but he should have been able to recover. He seemed to be distracted. Logan pulled away from the wall and looked more closely at the fighters. Then, he understood what was going on and nearly laughed aloud. From his new angle, he could see what Remy was looking at and it was Lena's cleavage. She was deliberately leaning forward to give Remy the best view she could without actually leaving herself vulnerable. Girl knew how to exploit a weakness, he thought to himself.
He liked watching her fight. He liked watching her move. He liked watching her. Ever since the operation, she seemed to get stronger every day. She glowed with health. As she put on more weight, her body and face lost the fragile quality they had when he had first brought her in. She looked less and less like an angel and more and more like a woman.
Remy finally figured out that he was being played for a fool. He straightened up, smiled and proceeded to win the next five matches. Lena and Remy joined Caleb and caught their breath.
"Well ya almost had me, Chere. Hav'ta admit, I din' figure you fo' the type to use dirty tricks."
"Ain't nothin' dirty about it. It's just strategy. I got a right to try an' distract ya. Ain't my fault if you wanna get an eye-full more than ya wanna win a match. Hell, if I thought it would give me the advantage, I'd fight ya naked and painted blue."
Everybody laughed.
"Just fo' future reference, petit." He kissed her hand lightly. "Naked an' blue would definitely work. I ain' even particular about the blue."
She snorted playfully and rolled her eyes, "Men are sooo easy! Speakin' of easy men, what was that you were sayin' about payback, Caleb?" With a roar she rose up and knocked Cay's feet out from underneath him. In a blur of motion, she quickly pinned him. This time it was a hold he couldn't power his way out of. He finally gave in and tapped out. "Ha, take that little brother. I kicked your skinny ass!" She danced around him and hooted, flashing an evil grin.
"See what I tol' you two about gettin' on her bad side. You keep this up Lanie and you're never gonna have a boyfriend an' I'm never gonna get rid of you."
"Hey, if you guys are done horsing around maybe you could help put the mats away?" Jubilee hollered over to them from the far side of the room.
"Hai! That's an awfully big mat Jubilee is rolling up all by herself. Why don't you help her, Cay Cay-chan?" Lena suggested to her brother, slipping into Japanese.
"Good idea, Little Tiger!" He taunted her, replying in Japanese. She stuck her tongue out at him as he ran to Jubilee's side.
Lena, Remy and Logan got the rest of the small mats stacked. Remy headed out to catch a shower and Logan and Lena leaned against one of the vaults and waited for the kids to finish rolling the larger mats. As they were talking, Logan drew a few Japanese characters into the rosin dust on the floor with the tip of Caleb's staff.
"So what's that all about anyway, Lena?"
"What's what about?"
He gestured to the characters on the floor.
"Oh, I just speak Japanese. I can't read it."
"Oh, sorry, it's Little Tiger. How'd ja get that name?"
"Oh that," she laughed, "My Sensei called me that because I never backed down even when I knew I couldn't win. He meant it as a compliment but Cay considers it more proof that I'm hard to get along with."
"Well there sure is a lot of spirit in that little package." He grinned at her.
"A little bit too much for Cay Cay's taste, I'm afraid."
"Well then he's definitely barkin' up the wrong tree over there." Logan's eyes scanned across the gymnasium to where Caleb and Jubilee were sitting on one of the rolled up mats.
"For her, I think he'll build up a taste." She smiled back at Logan. "I'm gonna hit the showers."
"Ya know, if you wanted to learn to read Japanese, I'd be happy to teach you."
"Jeeze Logan, I'd think you'd be sick of seein' my face by now."
"Ya don't have the kinda face a fella could get sick of, Lena."
"Right, we have a session in about a half-an-hour. So I'm gonna get that shower now. I can't bear the thought of you and Jean suffering my stink for three hours." She tossed off a smile in his direction and headed towards the locker room.
As she showered, she worried about Logan. Why was he was still acting sweet on her? Was he still getting the wrong signals? She wondered if the anxiety attacks she had been getting had anything to do with it. Could that be what he was sensing?
She knew she should bring it up to Henry again but it had gone so badly the last time. Who's the lucky fellow, Lena? He'd actually asked her that. As much as she liked Henry, she couldn't understand why he would say such a thing. Either he hadn't been quick enough to put two and two together and figure out that there would never be a lucky fellow in her life or he just had no idea that joking about it would hurt her feelings. Neither possibility sounded like the Henry she knew. Of course, she was far from an expert on this area of human interaction. She only knew about romance from Caleb's fledgling attempts at dating. It wasn't really much to go on.
If only she could be strong enough to push Logan away but she couldn't. Her shoulders drooped just thinking about it. He was funny, ornery, solid and kind and being with him was as easy for her as breathing. Time hadn't done anything to change their bond. The connection was still there, just as strong as before. After fifteen years living without him, she just couldn't give him up.
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