Adult-FanFiction.org : Marvel 'Verse

Northern Territories	By : jjblazer Category: X-Men: (All Movies) > Het - Male/Female > Logan/Marie Views: 4554 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the X-Men movies, or any of the characters from them. I make no money from from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
Title: Northern Territories

Author: jjblazer

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing, not a blessed thing

Archive Rights: Tell me where, I'll say yes

Feedback: Pretty please??

Rating: NC-17

Summary: A/U

Northern Territories � 02

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Marie made her way thru the moon-blotched darkness and stepped under the edge of the low-hanging tarp, the hiss of a lantern sputtering in the wind. There was excited chatter far across the compound, preparation for the night�s event underway.

The Judge awaited her. Offering a tiny smile, she waited for him to speak.

She did not know the man�s name. No one did. He was known to all of them simply as the Judge. That his former life was in no way connected with his current title did not detract in the least from his power. He was hard; but he was fair. And his word was law.

�Come, girl. Sit.�

Marie hesitated for a moment, unsure. This man had never given her a reason to fear him; on the contrary, he had taken enormous pains to protect her solitary status among his people. That he made first claim on any unattached females that made their way here was a primitive, almost barbaric, practice. But the men didn�t question his right. He did not abuse his power, taking them once and once only before turning them loose into the general population of the Outpost. It was a ritual that went a long way in binding the women to him and was as important in its own way as was the loyalty of his men.

�Marie, I�m presenting you tonight to be claimed.�

Marie�s faint smile died on the spot and all the color drained from her face. Had they found out? Her mutation was the only thing that had saved her from this man�s taking her, from being put up for ownership. And she hadn�t lied, really, about her skin. She�d lied about it being �on� all the time.

The Judge noted her disquiet; it�d be pretty damned hard to miss.

�Hold on a minute. I don�t think it�s really gonna to come to much. A drifter came in tonight, and he�s earned himself a challenge. You�re gonna be the bait.�

Marie gulped. �Bait?�

The Judge studied her. �Yeah, I think he�ll fight to the death to claim you. I believe the man�s a little desperate. And that�s just what we want for him. Death. But if by some remote chance he wins, which I seriously doubt, you best be prepared to ride out with him.� The Judge was a man of his word. If Logan somehow walked away from what they had in store for him, the Judge wouldn�t deny him his reward. In fact, it may just prove a blessing if that scum took this woman off his hands. It didn�t look like they were going to recoup their investment in her survival any time soon. Perhaps keeping her around in the first place had been a mistake. Whoever they sold her to would have to be pretty fuckin� stupid not to be suspicious of them handing over a virgin, especially one as desirable as this. They would surely make inquiries as to her true value before turning over any hard won loot.

Marie fought to find her voice. �Does he � does he know I�m a mutant? About my skin?�

The Judge snorted. �What do you think?� Logan would be getting a raw deal here. But that really wasn�t the Judge�s problem.

Rising from the table, he told her it would assuredly come to nothing and to go meet Tanner at the cage.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

�Hey, listen, Tanner. There�s no way this guy can take down all three of them. He�s a drifter, and that means he�s gotta be a little weak. None of the scavengers eat very well, you know that.�

Tanner listened to Carson�s reasoning but wasn�t really convinced. As astute as the Judge, Tanner had noted that there was something a little off about the stranger; he just couldn�t place what it was.

He and Carson continued to prepare the chain link enclosure of the cage, lighting torches around its perimeter. At least it would be a good show.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

�You even gonna let me see what I�m fightin� for first?�

The Judge narrowed his eyes at Logan, standing in the middle of the cage. In spite of the chill, he�d stripped down to his jeans, his boots, and nothing else - except for a small tag on a chain around his neck.

�She�ll be along right quick, don�t you worry �bout that.� Raising his booming voice over the excited babble surroug thg the fight enclosure, the Judge made his announcements and the crowd stilled.

�The Outpost has accepted a challenge. For an unclaimed female. This man,� and he indicated Logan with a sweep of his hand, �faces three of our best. If he�s still standing after thirty minutes, and our men ain�t, he wins rights to this female.� The Judge could barely suppress a grin at his own words. Standing? The man would be dead.

The Judge nodded his head at Tanner, near the back of the crowd. The throng silently parted as he made his way forward, a frightened looking young woman being shoved along in front of him by the haft of his crossbow. He didn�t even want to touch her through her clothes.

She wore a heavy hooded cloak and gloves, the attire nearly smothering her form. But not her face. The hood fell back as Tanner stopped her and nudged her to stand on a wooden crate, the better for the crowd to view her. Her hair fell in chestnut waves about her shoulders and she braved a look at the man that had earned this challenge � that may just earn her.

Logan�s eyes widened and his mouth almost fell open. The girl was beautiful. Scratch that. She was downright gorgeous. Instantly suspicious, he figured this was all a set-up. He was very nearly right. No man could possibly hope to hold his own against the three goons now entering the cage. But Logan was far more than a man.

He stepped up to the Judge, unable to tear his eyes away from the girl shivering under his scrutiny. �You said anything goes, right?�

The Judge smirked at him. �Anything goes.� He stepped aside to let his men have free rein. Two of them carried aluminum baseball bats, the other a heavy length of pipe.

Logan made a grab for the Judge�s shirtfront, snarling. �You didn�t mention that they�d be armed.�

�Well, what did you expect, stranger? Think we�re gonna give up a woman easily? Not likely.� He turned to his men. �He�s all yours, boys.�

The Judge slammed the gate on the cage and bellowed. �Let it begin!�

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

No one in the crowd, least of all the Judge, could figure out just exactly what happened. The flickering torchlight only hindered their view of the action, shadows jumping over the melee in the cage.

No sooner had the Judge yelled forth his announcement, and one of his men was down, an audible metallic ringing following the instantly unconscious giant to the ground. Huh? That sound wasn�t from a baseball bat. The first man wasn�t carrying one; he had the pipe. Not that it did him any fuckin� good. It fell from his hand, never even raised, as he plummeted for the hard packed earthen floor of the cage.

The other two men began to circle their prey in tandem after watching their comrade hit the deck. A head butt? He�d taken Marcus down with a head butt? They couldn�t believe it.

Marie watched in horrified fascination at this primitive display of cat and mouse. The man fighting for her was inhumanly fast, his opponents vicious in dealing out blows at every opportunity. One of them got close enough to tear away the chain around his neck and it fell with a dull sparkle to the hard earthen floor. Logan didn�t even notice.

The stranger took a tremendous amount of punishment, but never went down � not until one of them got a good swing at his knees.
The bat again swung, this time for his skull. It never landed. Faster than the eye could follow it, he unleashed an upwards backhanded swing and the aluminum bat somehow broke in mid-arc, the top two thirds of it flying off uselessly into a corner. As his opponent stared in disbelief at the stub remaining in his grip, Logan hurled himself from the ground and planted a solid kick to the middle of the guy�s chest. He went flying,
flying, into the sidewall of the cage, bending the support posts. He landed on his butt in a boneless heap, unconscious.

The last Outpost man still standing blinked. Thirty minutes? This hadn�t even lasted three. He had no doubt that this crazy lookin�
maniac with the wild dark hair was about to lay a world of hurt on him. Well, he�d at least make this asshole pay. A little.

The last man was smaller than the other two, wiry and quick. He danced around the perimeter of the cage, looking for an opening.

The crowd noise had increased to a fever pitch. Against all odds, it was apparent that the drifter was going to win, was going to best the best they had to throw at him. It let loose a soaring appreciation for this man, the most fearsome fighter any of them had ever seen.

Tonight�s event hadn�t gone as the villagers expected. At this point, it hardly mattered. This was a spectacle of pure strength and skill, of survival. And the crowd loved it. An underdog, even an outsider underdog, was something each and every one of them could identify with. They urged him on.

Hearing the crowd turn on him, the last Outpost man stopped his wary circling. Logan seemed to sense that the man was throwing in the towel and hesitated. His opponent dropped the bat and sank to his knees, his palms turned up in a gesture of defeat. He was giving it up.

Logan, his chest heaving, struggled to rein in his elation and fight off the adrenaline overload. He dragged a forearm across his face, flinging away the sweat. Then, and only then, did his eyes seek out the girl.

He had won. She was his.

Marie met his gaze, not knowing what to think. Her heart raced. She�d be leaving this place with him, her life no longer her own. That she was somehow undeniably drawn to him was unsettling � but male dominance and power were intoxicating. It was the currency of this new world and as his mate, she was suddenly rich beyond measure. That strength, that power, would direct her life from now on, but would also protect her. If she weren�t so damned scared of him right at that moment, she would�ve realized that he excited her, in a way that nothing ever had.

His dark eyes drilled into her, roaming over her cloaked form. He reached for his shirt and slipped it on, not bothering to button it, and also pulled on his jacket. His eyes never leaving hers, he stepped up to her and the cheering crowd quieted.
This was a solemn moment, a bonding between two strangers that would inexorably alter both their lives. Most of those watching actually forgot for a moment that he wouldn�t be able to touch this girl. They watched, breathless, observing their first exchange.

Logan looked up into her face as she stood on the wooden crate. Without a word, his hands went to the single clasp at the top of her cloak and it fell away to pool at her feet. His eyes dropped along with the cloak to take in her luscious, curvy body, encased in tight fitting worn out black jeans, a long sleeved ratty gray sweater not quite covering her midriff, and soft leather gloves covering her hands.

A faint frown crossed his face. Something was wrong here. The Judge would never see fit to offer up an unclaimed female, one as alluringly beautiful as this, to anyone outside their own enclave if there wasn�t a catch. But at the moment, he didn�t care what the hell it was.

His hands went up to her waist and he lifted her from her crate against him, her gloved hands resting lightly on his shoulders. He let her slide down his chest until her feet were on the ground. And then swooped in and kissed her, hard.

The crowd let go whoops and cheers - until it dawned on the lot of them that the kiss went on and on, he seemed to devour her. And he wasn�t keeling over and dying because of it.

Marie thought she was going to faint. It never even occurred to her to take control of the situation by flipping on her skin, to keep him away, to keep him at a distance. His mouth moved over hers hungrily and she opened to him, letting him thrust his tongue deep inside her mouth, his hands buried in her hair.

The Judge�s face twisted in snarling rage. This girl had betrayed them. She was a priceless commodity after all, and he�d foolishly put her up for claiming, to someone outside their village, someone that would take her away without payment. The man had fought for her, yes. But that didn�t change the fact that what the Judge thought he was putting up as a prize, an untouchable and therefore worthless female, was in fact nothing of the kind.

Logan finally got control of himself enough to break off the sweetest, hottest kiss he could ever remember. Pulling back from her, looking into her face, they studied each other and fought to catch their breath. Marie watched the corner of his mouth begin to turn up in a lopsided grin, one she found very endearing and she timidly smiled up at him, her eyes sparkling.

Something deep and solid passed between them in that look. Both outcasts, both alone, they�d perhaps found a way to not be that anymore.

The Judge saw it and it infuriated him. He bellowed. �That�s it! The deal�s off!� The villagers scattered as the Judge raged his way over to the breathless couple, Tanner and Carson at his heels.

Logan didn�t hesitate. Pulling his new mate along with him, he sprinted for the ready string of horses tied up on the edge of the compound, ignoring the hollering and threats at his back. The girl had made a scoop for her cloak as Logan started to drag her along and her feet became entangled. With a cry, she went down, barking her chin on the ground.

Logan got to the horses and swung into the saddle, snaring the reins from the railing. Turning the animal, he made a grab for the girl as she shakily got to her feet and he hauled her up behind him, brutally kicking the horse for the gates.

It was a mistake. The gates were firmly barred, and the smaller door he was counting on, that he�d entered not two hours ago, was also sealed up.

The Judge let a smarmy smile light up his face as he hollered for Tanner and Carson to load up their crossbows. The stranger was galloping headlong for a dead end.

Or so the Judge thought. They�d left Parker on guard duty. The kid was usually in some kind of trouble or another, not through meanness but through sheer stupidity. He�d been exiled from tonight�s event and left to watch the gates, punishment for some now forgotten slackening of one of the Judge�s many rules, and he sat in shivering self-pity under the cold moon and listened as the festivities carried on without him.

Parker looked up at a rider flying toward him at top speed. Well, if that guy didn�t slow down, Parker knew he�d never get the gates open in time to let him out.
Sheesh, the dummy!

Logan hauled back on the reins and the horse squealed, digging in its haunches in a skidding stop.

�Open up! Now!� Parker was already hurriedly moving to open the inset panel at the bottom of the main gate.

�Alright already! I�m gettin� it!� Christ, this guy was pushy. Parker got the lower door nudged open and stood in the middle of it, wondering just who this guy was, anyway. But he was riding the Judge�s favorite horse and Parker figured the Judge must�ve said that was ok. No one touched this sleek black animal except for the Judge.

Analytical thinking not being anywhere near this kid�s strong suit, he frowned in puzzlement at the horde of men rounding the corner of the farthest dwelling. They were yelling at him. No, they were yelling at this guy and the mutie girl he had behind him on the horse. Imagine that.

The horse skittered in a circle and just as Logan leaned over to knock Parker out of the way, a vicious **zing** cut the night air and he jolted with the impact of a metal bolt, fired from Tanner�s deadly accurate crossbow. It hit him just below his left collarbone and came close to unseating him.

Men were closing in on them, some carrying torches and others fumbling to raise their weapons. Logan got the wall-eyed horse under him turned just as another crossbow bolt thudded into the gate a hair�s breadth over Parker�s stupid head.

Logan could feel the girl holding onto him with frightened desperation, and ignoring the blinding pain in his chest, his lungs beginning to fill with blood, Logan kicked the animal thru the gates and they were gone.

The men chasing their now vanished target pounded to a halt at the gates. The Judge eyed Parker with outright hatred. Christ, but this kid was a moron! He reached over the cringing idiot�s head and yanked the bolt from Carson�s crossbow out of the gatepost.

�Too bad he missed ya,� he snarled. Shoving the uncomprehending Parker to the ground, the Judge took one last look out the gates, turned on his heel and led the rest of the men back to the compound. Fuck!!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

�Doc wants to talk. Says he found somethin� innerestin�.� Carson led what passed for their medical man over to the Judge�s tarp. He was a vet in the former world, but here he was a full-fledged MD. The thought made him laugh - when he wasn�t up to his elbows in blood trying to save some poor schmuck that even a modern medical facility couldn�t help. He wasn�t much, but he was far better than nothing.

�I patched up those two in the cage, and I found this. And these.�

Doc laid his bits and pieces on the table for the Judge to judge. He didn�t know what to make of any of it himself.

The Judge�s bald head bent over the table, gleaming in the torchlight. He�d sat here for almost an hour and tried to figure out just what the hell had happened tonight. The Doc bringing him a diversion was almost welcome.

The broken baseball bat lay on the table. It was neatly hacked in four pieces. The man that had been wielding it couldn�t explain it either. He stood in shame-faced defeat at the end of the table and fidgeted.

�Beats the fuck outta me, Judge. One second the guy was down, the next I�m standin� there with just the bottom o� the bat in my hands.� The Judge regarded him in silence and he tried to come up with something more to say. �Sounded kinda like it got hit by metal, like blades or somethin�.� But the drifter wasn�t armed. They made sure of that before the fight had started. They wanted him dead, after all.

Not knowing what to make of it, the Judge picked up the other item on the table.

It was a dogtag. Wolverine. And a number.

The Judge bounced the tag and the loose chain in his hand, wondering. There was one man that might know something about this. And he�d be coming this way in another week or so, if his scouting party was successful. The man had a shady military background, though he was very cagey about it. But if anybody would recognize kin kind of outfit this came from, it would be him.

The Judge turned to Tanner. �When he comes in, you find me immediately. I wanna talk to him about this.�

Tanner didn�t need to ask who the Judge was referring to. He already knew.

Stryker.

(to be continued�..)
- 1
- 2
- 3
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Northern Territories