Once breakfast was ready, they sat across from one another at the small table. Even as he struggled not to wolf the food down, to maintain some semblance of etiquette, Logan kept his eyes on Kiara...
"Stop staring at me..." Kiara said quietly, pushing the eggs around on her plate with a fork.
"Can't help it - you're beautiful." She blushed and ducked her head. Logan had to stifle a laugh. "Even more beautiful when you're blushing..." The color on Kiara's cheeks deepened and she let out a giggle.
"Are you always so forward?" She smiled, lifting a forkful of egg to her mouth.
"Only when I see something I want." Kiara made a choking noise and Logan was halfway out of his chair before a hand waved at him frantically to sit back down. She wiped tears away from rosy cheeks and took a sip of coffee before she spoke.
"You're terrible.." she giggled. Logan raised a single eyebrow in response.
"Was I?" The innuendo behind his words silenced Kiara's giggles, and she stared back at him from eyes darkened with remembered passion. Then she shook her head and her soft laugh sent a warm tingle down Logan's spine.
"If you keep this up, I am never going to finish my breakfast!"
"Spoilsport...." Logan let out a mock sigh of disappointment, then raised an eyebrow again. "Well, there's always AFTER breakfast..."
"Logan!!" The blush on Kiara's face was bright crimson and Logan felt a sharp primitive satisfaction that *he* was the one responsible for putting it there. And the mischievous twinkle in her eyes belied the shocked tone of her voice. Smiling smugly, Logan sat back and sipped at his coffee, watching in silence as Kiara finished her breakfast.
When her plate was finally cleared, he spoke again. More seriously this time.
"What were you dreaming last night?" She gave a small start at his words and looked up at him surprised.
"How do you know I was dreaming?"
"Your lips move in your sleep..." Another blush...
"It wasn't the same as the nightmares...." She began hesistantly.
"I figured as much when you didn't wake up screaming," Logan said softly, the memory of her terror-stricken face when she'd awoken the previous night twisting his stomach into knots.
"I remember... a man... a man wearing a uniform... and he was talking to me...." The air in the cabin suddenly seemed thick and impossible to breath, as Logan felt a sudden rush of rage.
"What did he say?" The words were carefully controlled, but something in his tone made Kiara look sharply at him before continuing.
"I don't remember... He was standing at the door... and then someone put something over my face and it all just went black...."
"The door?"
"It... It was a house, I think... My house..." She stopped and looked at him again, her eyes filled with an immeasurable sadness. "Our house..." Logan's throat tightened at her words. Their house.... He closed his eyes and struggled. Struggled with all that was him to bring up some memory of the place she spoke of. But there was nothing. All still locked away somewhere in his battered psyche... Eyes snapped open to focus again on Kiara's concerned face.
"The words, Kiara... Try to remember the words..." She nodded silently, and closed her eyes. Logan watched as her forehead wrinkled in concentration, as her hands clenched and unclenched on the table top. Finally, she let out a shaky sigh, and brought a trembling hand up to rub at her face.
"I can't. I can't remember what he said... what *I* said...." She paused then, and looked at Logan. *Really* looked at him... "It was about you, I think... All I can remember is his face..." Logan stopped breathing as the words left her mouth. The beginnings of a plan began to claw its way out of the darkness of his mind.
"His face? You can remember his face?" The words were bitten out, devoid of emotion, and Kiara nodded slowly, eyes wide as she stared back at him.
"You able to draw it?"
"I can't draw, Logan," her voice was low, unsure.
"Damn it..." he hissed between teeth clenched in anger and frustration. Seeing fear at the violence of his reaction blossom on Kiara's face, Logan brought the rage back under control, rolling his head to the side to release the incredible tension in his neck muscles. "Well then, there's nothing else to do but go back."
"Go back where? And why?"
"To Xavier's school. He'll be able to get inside your memories and then maybe he can transfer them to someone who can give us a sketch. Something to ID him off of..." His mind was working furiously now, with the sudden possibility that he might be able to finally track down at least one person who was responsible for taking his life away. For ruining *their* lives...
"Who is Xavier?" The fear and apprehension in Kiara's voice brought Logan back to himself with a jolt.
"He's a mutant, like us. He helped me out not too long ago. He's a professor and he runs a school for mutant children, gives them a place to stay, teaches them to control their powers. He has this..." Logan winced with embarrassment. "He has this team, the X-Men. Basically make sure the 'bad' mutants don't ruin it for the rest of us. Xavier's the one who.... who helped me find you." Kiara nodded her understanding, but he could still see the fear plain on her face.
"Where is this school exactly?"
"It's in Westchester, New York. The United States..." He said the words slowly, watching carefully for her reaction. Eyes wide, she stood up abruptly from her chair.
"But that's.... that's so far away! I can't.... I can't just leave here..." Logan stood quickly and began to move towards her, around the table, but she backed away and held out a hand to stop him.
"Kiara... it's okay. You don't have to be afraid..." Soft words. Comforting words. The panic in her eyes tore at him...
"Logan, I don't know these people... How am I suppose to trust them? To go all that way away from here, to let someone into my mind? Into my memories?!" Her voice was rising as she spoke, and he had to fight not to reach out to her.
"Kiara, you *can* trust them. They're good people. They'll help us, I know they will. You can trust them, Kiara. You can trust *me*..." Her expression softened a little at his words and he continued. "Come on, Kiara, I won't let anyone hurt you again... I promise..." The tension drained away from her body and she looked back at him with only a trace of apprehension on her face.
"Alright, Logan. I... I trust you..." she said, taking a deep breath. "So, when do we leave?" He could feel the smile spread across his face, as he closed the gap between them and wrapped his arms around her.
"I'd like to leave as soon as you can pack, while there's still plenty of daylight," he whispered into her hair. He felt her body shake and heard a chuckle escape her lips.
"Well, I guess 'AFTER breakfast' will have to wait then...." The muscles in his stomach contracted at the teasing note in her voice and Logan tightened his arms around her.
"You're going to drive me crazy..." he growled. She laughed again and wriggled out of the embrace, to stand looking at him with both eyebrows raised.
"Well, it's a long trip, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Logan answered, eyes narrowing, trying to figure out where she was heading with this.
"So we'll probably have to stop along the way..." Oh...
"Yeah..." he grinned.
"Well, then, you'll have plenty of time later, won't you?" she winked, as she turned away and began to shove worn clothing into a small sack. Logan swore under his breath at the tension that was now fairly singing through his body. Crossing the room in only a few strides, he grabbed her from behind and turned her to face him. Her mouth opened to speak and he stopped her with a rough kiss. Letting only a fraction of the intensity inside him show through... When he finally drew back, her chest rose and fell with harsh breathes.
"Time I intend to take full advantage of..." he whispered into her ear, before finally releasing her to gather his own things. The stunned look on her face would just have to last him through the day's ride.
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