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Ultimate Coverup	By : Polymer Category: X-men Comics > Het - Male/Female Views: 1569 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men comics, or any of the characters from it. I make no money from from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 9
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Chapter 10

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Well, I DID have plans," he said thoughtfully. He steered the bike around the curves, all the while going faster and faster. He knew these roads like the back of his hand and before long they were slowing onto a gravel trail. Logan realized Mariko was leaning into the curves with him, and that indicated she was extremely comfortable on a motorcycle.

"Almost there." He said.

She leaned into the curves easily. "I'd shout Banzai, but that's too cheesy."

"Yeah...no kiddin' hon."

Up ahead on the gravel trail, there was a small cabin. Woods surrounded it on all sides and the only sign that anyone had been there recently was the fact that it wasn't run down. She blinked as she saw the cabin in the moonlight. Was it her imagination or had someone replaced a few windows with rice paper frames?

Logan slowed the bike down to a gentle stop and cut the engine. "Here we are. My hideout. It ain't the Hilton but it's nice all the same."

"Very nice... seems like you made some modifications," she said with amusement. Indeed the glass windows were not present, rather had been replaced with Japanese rice paper frames, and some oriental touches here and there.

He kicked the kickstand down and moved to get off the bike reaching out to help her off. He shrugged. "Simple stuff. Replaced some windows w/ rice paper...got rid of some of the doors...rebuilt the fire place."

"I like it a lot," she nodded. She shivered; her silk jacket tattered under the jacket that's zipped up that Logan gave her to wear. She sneezed a bit, and realized her 'healing factor' though one half the rate of Logan's was at work to ridding her of a quick cold that tried to assert itself. She struggled to unzip her boots and remove them before going in.

"Easy there. Let's get ya some tea or somethin'. Warm ya up a bit." He offered her his arm to hang on to as he opened the door. The lock gave and he opened the door wide. The inside of the cabin was dark and smelled of wood smoke and incense. "Come on in."

Still rubbing her arms covered by his jacket, she walked inside, inhaling the scents that remind her of home. A part of her memory buried emerges, of being in the Yashida family complex in Japan. She hadn't seen the ancestral home since she was 16... even when she'd returned she'd lived in Tokyo, in a lavish apartment with Shiro. Then Weapon X...

"Come on. Let's get something to drink," he said taking her hand and leading her into the surprisingly modern kitchen. Modern in the sense that there were conveniences likes a fridge, oven and stove.

Smiling, she took in the place around them, impressed. She shrugged off Logan's jacket and hung it over the coat rack. Her Chinese silk jacket is damp and in tatters, so when she attempted to take it off, the thing fell to the floor in shreds leaving her in the bustier top Storm loaned her. She wondered if Jean had helped set the place up, and chuckled.

Logan walked over to the counter and saw that someone had already set up a pot of tea and two cups, the tea still hot. He shook his head, amused. How they'd gotten out of there so fast he'd never know...but it was nice everything was ready. "Looks like a friend of mine came through and set up some stuff for us."

Logan turned to ask her a question and stopped, looking over her. He hadn't noticed the top she was wearing before. "Nice outfit."

"Ah," she giggled awkwardly and turned around to let him admire her. "I figured that I'd end up taking this off... but never in THIS circumstance... the jacket I meant..."

'Calm down. Actin' like a freakin' teenager. Damn hormones.' He scolded himself mentally. She shivered again and even the top and skirt are still damp. Mariko murmured, "wish I had a change of clothes..."

"I think I got somethin' you can have...follow me." Logan looked away as his heart began to race again.

"Very well," she nodded, hugging herself and leaping over to the rack to drape his coat around her shoulders for warmth again.

He led the way out of the kitchen and down the hall to the bedroom. He opened the dresser at the far end of the bedroom and rummaged for a minute before pulling out a silk kimono style robe. "Here ya go," he said handing it to her.

Taking it from him, she unfolded it and examined it. She chuckled, "Looks like one of mine..."

He smiled. "Yeah...well... there's a screen over there where you can change if you want�"

He indicated a lacquer and red painted accordion screen. A relic of a bygone era, it covered the entrance to the open closet. Mariko slid behind it and smelled leather and denim hanging up in the space. Her hand brushed past a few flannel shirts hanging there, plus riding leathers and an assortment of other clothes.

Her top draped over the upper edge of the screen, along with the remnants of the stockings, and her skirt. The other items draped next to it, still damp. Logan turned around staring at the wall rather than her shadow through the screen. 'Damn...what the hell is wrong with me.' he muttered.

"There's um, something else you might want," Logan said, tossing something over the screen.

"Something wrong Logan?" she asked slowly. "No...nothing wrong..." he said, taking a seat at the edge of the bed. A set of silk underpants and a bra landed on her head, and she realized to her relief they were hers. Yet who had raided her room? She secretly hoped it was Logan who had done so. Finally when she slid on the robe, and then found that she felt much better after changing. A sash matched the kimono, and she fastened the hooks that held the robe in place. Grabbing some fresh socks she twists her hair up and out of her face.

"You sure?" she asked. Grabbing a hanger, she walked over to pick up her wet clothes. Once she draped them over the hanger, she walked into the small bathroom to hook the hangar over the curtain rod.

"Just givin' ya privacy." he said lamely. 'And saving my sanity.' he added silently.

In that brief glimpse he had seen something that startled him. A face jarred out of the morass of his Swiss cheese memory flashed before his eyes. Hers and Michelle's was an eerie match. Granted it was from a dossier he and Creed had viewed before a mission. The royal clan Yashida, including the inner circle of immediate relatives.

Images swum in his brain as he unleashed a slew of memories. There were three children in the picture. The boy who would become the Silver Samurai, Shiro, and the Lady Mariko. She was the only biological daughter of the immediate clan heir. Till he had stepped down and given the title to his younger brother.

He recalled the day that the X thirty series had come. Creed had complained about the 'japs' till he lay eyes on what he christened the Madame Butterfly squad...

"Who are they?" Logan had asked that day.

"Meet Yum-yum, Peep Bo, and Pitty Sing," he joked.

"Shaddup Creed. Your penchant for political incorrectness has gone TOO far, Professor Oyama had said.

"What's a matter, ya hypocrite? Just cause one of 'em's your OWN daughter�" here Creed pointed to X-31, known as agent Deathstrike. She flexed her adamantium talons and leered at them with a feral hiss."Shut UP Creed. If you weren't assigned to this security detail I'd have you submitted as a subject. Yuriko went willingly�" he trailed off.

Logan shivered when he saw the deadly look in her eyes. Next to her stood X-33, known as Betsy Braddock, who had been adopted by the Yashida clan after having been torn from her parents as a child. Her brother's whereabouts were unknown. A genetic experiment had given her the gene structure of a long dead ninja known as Kwannon."I serve you milord," X-33 nodded slowly. Her eyes narrowed bionic eyes that gave her infravision. She brandished a violet blade made of pure psychic energy.

"And X-34, whose identity remains a secret. You will accompany me to the lab, my dear�""No, I want her," Creed sneered. Before he could get a good look at the other two, they were hustled away.

Logan's brain swam. He glanced at the dossier, seeing the features of Lady Mariko, only 16, who has disappeared. Was Michelle possibly her? But Michelle was a Japanese/American, with some subtle Caucasian features. However seeing Michelle in that robe with her hair twisted up, she could pass as an eerie double for the missing clan heir.

Because of the ties to Yashida, an unholy alliance existed. Creed had been assigned full responsibility. He had even taken X-34 as 'payment'.

***

Digging his hands into his thighs, Logan growled when he remembered finding out who x-34 was. That day when he'd been bleeding from a full box emptied in his chest. He twisted his mind, struggling to stop the images but they flooded over unmercifully�

"I was sent to tend him," said her voice.

"By whose authority?"

"Victor Creed," she said firmly.

"Oh it's little Miss Yum-Yum," the sergeant leered.

"Shut up, you know we can't touch her," said the other guard. Moving past them she unlocked the cell. Logan snarled smelling Creed on her body. What torture was this?

Barely he'd hung on by the skin of his teeth, the animal in him the only thing keeping him going. He heard a shriek as a warm body collided with his. Creed's stench covered her, mingled with the smell of Original Recipe KFC, and a smell of lotus blossoms.

"Why doncha keep HIM company, Yum-yum,' laughed the sergeant.

"Let me out!" she yelled.

Logan seized her by the neck, roaring as he slammed her to the cage wall. Dark eyes fixed into his, bright with shock. However the fear dissipated as they stared into his blue ones. "I won't hurt you� I know you smell him on me� but I'm NOT his willingly," she said in Japanese.

Three adamantium claws slid out with a rasp of metal on metal, inches from her throat. Snarling, Logan tightened his grip on her neck, and the white-coated researcher continued to stare at him, gasping. "No� I'm a prisoner too," she gasped. He heard the laughs of the men and the jeering as they spat and wolf whistled.

"Beauty and the beast!" the sergeant leered.

"RRRRRAGGH," Logan snarled, and then buried his nose in her neck. Lotus and plum blossoms. She smelled like a woman. With one claw he slid her collar aside and saw no bitemark.

"Your name is Logan," she said calmly. "I know they hurt you� I've got food for you� please� I know you won't hurt me. You're a human being� not an animal� I only want to help you�"

"What's going on� why can't I�" Logan trailed off. Deeply he inhaled her scent, and retracted his claws.

"I'm not afraid of you, Logan," she said softly, and he released her neck. In shock he backed away, seeing the food in her hands. He smelled medicinal alcohol and the clean sterile scent of bandages.

"I am an animal," he said in Japanese as he huddled away from her.

"I don't care," she said. "I'm X-34� but I'm called Michelle� here you look hungry�"

"You're trapped too," Logan said as he saw the guards watching them like caged animals. Snarling he turned and grabbed the bars rattling them. The two guards backed away, one of them showing a wet stain between his legs.

"Let's get outta here," they whimpered. Logan exhaled, releasing the adamantium bars. Michelle huddled there, her knee hurting as she knelt by the cage door. Still her black eyes focused on Logan, no hint of pity. Just concern for him.

"Let me look at that," she said firmly. Logan hissed in pain as her hands touched him, but she kept them in full view. With a pair of forceps she pulled each bullet out and dropped them into a kidney basin. The sting of her antiseptic and bandages was momentary.

Grabbing the food, he began to wolf it down. He was working on the mashed potatoes and gravy when he saw her watching him.

"What?" he asked. "Never seen an animal eat?"

"I don't see an animal. Just a man in a cage," Michelle said quietly, still working on cleaning his legs. "Who is as trapped as I am�"

"Japanese?" he asked.

"Yes," she said.

"But why� why did you help me?" he asked.

"Because I wanted to," Michelle said. Logan saw her eyes so clear and her smell so true. Anger twisted to remorse and for the first time he turned from a woman. In shame and fear he dropped his food, and huddled.

"Lemmie be," he muttered.

"No," she said softly. "I'm not afraid of you, Logan-san� afraid for you� I couldn't let those gaijin hurt you�"

"Can't remember," he murmured. "How I� learned to speak your language. Can't hardly speak English�"

He curled up on the floor. Shivering in shock which was something he'd hardly done. Naked and dirty he twisted his body from her. He heard the rustle of cloth as the technician shed her smock and draped it over him. Her hands were soft. Logan grabbed them and saw the X-34 on her arm and fine scars. She did something that astonished him. She actually smiled at him.

Logan accepted her arms around him as she lay his head on her chest, and pulled the coat around him to cover his nakedness and gore. She hugged him close, and he lay his head and shoulders on her lap. She fought back the tears that dripped down her cheeks as she rocked him and sang to him softly. Logan cried for the first time in his memory.

With a blink, he forced the unpleasant times away. A haze settled in, and he found it difficult to concentrate. Her voice was calling to him in the present, and the door shut. His healing factor was sealing the pain away but only temporarily.

"Logan� are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he said quickly. "Just old memories�"

"I understand," she says softly. The look between them told him she was content to take his advice and bury the past. Otherwise it would control them both. That was what bastards like Creed wanted. To use the terror of the past to steal their present and their future.

"I promised to get you something hot to drink� I think I left it in the kitchen," Logan said hastily, getting up off the bed.

Nodding, she passed him, wandering into the kitchen. She opens the fridge and sees what he has there with a laugh of delight.

He followed her into the kitchen, wondering what she was happy about.

She pulls out the containers of sushi, and then starts to find the proper serving materials. She set lacquered bowls along with a set of chopsticks.

Logan shook his head. "I cant believe..." he said w/ a surprise. He'd have to thank them later because they'd really gone all out on helping him set the whole thing up. "Looks like we have enough to feed a small army. Need any help with that darlin'?"

"Yes," she smiled. "I need some steamed rice... and a few other things..."

"I got the steamer here," Logan said as he grabbed the metal basin and she found the brand of rice that was the best and closest to what they both remembered in Japan.

Before long they've prepared a late dinner. Logan had effectively buried the past, losing himself in the scent of the food and the motion of her body under the soft sigh of silk. Her scent now mingled with the plum blossom perfume and the heavy incense burning in the air. A fire crackled in the fireplace, illuminating the low table set with full place servings for two. A pair of cushions was there for them to kneel on comfortably.

He carried the last tray and set it down. She moved to help him but he held up his hand. "Nope, I said I'd help�"

"All right, you win," she laughed, kneeling at one end. She watched him returning, carrying something in his hands that he'd obtained from a sideboard.

"Well...think that's everything," he said setting a bottle of sake on the table.

In place of the smeared makeup, he made out just her natural features are visible in the dim light from a few lanterns. 'God...she's so beautiful.' he thought just taking a moment to stare at her.

Her dark lashes veiled those eyes he could get lost in, when she served him a few portions of the freshly prepared steamed rice and the sushi. There was soup and all manners of fixings that he recalled from his missions and time long ago. They swirled just beyond his reach, and he creased his face in concentration trying to summon them up. Then they slid away, and he sighed.

"This is so thoughtful of you� I'm glad I changed my mind," she said softly. Her voice brought him back to the here and now.

Logan smiled as he poured two cups of sake and held one up. "You wanna make up the toast?"

She nodded, "Definitely... and feel free to jump in at any time... to someone else who truly understands me... and accepts me for who I am..." she started.

"And," Logan urged her to continue.

"Does that sound overly sentimental?" she teased.

"You still got somethin' ta say," he said. "Arm's getting tired if ya don't�"

She chuckled at his gentle joke, and said, "And doesn't give a damn about the faults..."

"Not at all...to someone who doesn't get scared when I walk towards them...who accepts me for what and who I am." he smiled back at her.

Her eyes are dark with understanding. She has lost the feral look and is transformed for a moment into the lady Mariko that she should be. However it was not due to her half brother's station and her father's denial of his heritage.

They clinked the small drinking vessels and sipped the heady liquor. Logan felt the smooth burn down his throat. Momentarily both were intoxicated before the X factor churned to break it down. He straightened the robe he'd changed into, and reached for his own set of chopsticks. Hopefully he could remember how to use them and not look like an idiot before this lovely lady.

Fortunately he did fine, and she didn't mind in the slightest. Basking in the comfort of the fire, and the food, they ate together. Logan banished the past, and lost himself right there. Her secrets would wait till the right moment to reveal them.
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Ultimate Coverup