“Here we go.” Setting the loaded to overflowing food tray in front of her companion, the second of the two people in the room settled down herself. As was usual for them, they would share from the same plate…and as always, she knew that he would wait for her to start before even reaching out for a morsel for himself.

However, this wasn’t ‘like always’, especially not today and even though it was still her who made the first move, it was to lift a bite to his lips…only to have him just sit there, his head hung and staring blankly at a fixed point on the floor, his lips set in a tight line.

Not that any of it surprised her.


“Hey,” setting the fork back down, she raised both her hands to either side of his face, having to apply a bit of pressure to turn him to face her. “Say something…please.”

Despite her urging, she knew that there wouldn’t be any answer from him, and even though his eyes were trained on hers, it was clear that he wasn’t looking at her…or for that matter at anything else.

She hated it when he got like his. Hated not him, but that it was of no fault of his own…just as it wasn’t within him to control it. Yes, she hated it and almost every single time the hate was for the man…the monster who had made him be like this. Even seated, his shoulders were rounded and tensed, his hands clenched into tight fists, his knuckles white from the strain. That there was a deep scowl on his face wasn’t out of place…at least not for her.

He had done it for her, her always did it for her and even though he hadn’t said, or would possibly ever say, seated beside him…besides James, her Logan, Madelyne knew that he would do anything for her…not only because he hadn’t no one else to turn to, but because in his own way, James loved her.

Just as much as she loved him.

---

//Flashback//

“No! Don’t,” she had cried out, not at all caring for those who witnessed to her groveling. “Please…please master.” The last word came out with nary a hesitation.

Madelyne hated using that word, for just with that single word both she and James were designated to being something less than human, James even lower than her.

She knew this would happen the moment the claws had shot out and into the young woman. Sinister had told to bring this Rogue to him…to bring her unharmed. She was his new pet project, even more than the silver haired Storm and the baby growing inside her. Even though Storm was to be cared for more than the others, for all purposes her ‘experiment’ was already underway. Still, although she did not know why Rogue interested the pale Sinister so much, and though with his attention on Rogue it would save Madelyne from having his hands touch her…at least for now, she still could not help feel sorry for whatever horrors the madman had in store for the girl.

However, none of those thoughts and worries currently mattered to her. All that mattered was the man drawn up in a fetal position just below her, an uncontrollable unimaginable pain wracking his entire being. It was a mental punishment for what he…what they had done to the girl and as always, it wasn’t Madelyne who had to suffer for the mistake, it was James.

“Please…please., he didn’t mean to,” she pleaded. “She attacked us…me. She attacked me. He-he was…he was only…please.”

“That does not matter my dear,” that polished sickeningly sweet voice sent chills down her spine. “The point is, a mistake was made and for that amends have to be made,” and just to accentuate his point, he sent a fresh, stronger psychic pulse through the mind link, the renewed pain causing the already shaking James to convulse even more. “There is a lesson to be learned.”

“Please…please don’t.”

---

A few feet away, tethered in their respective cells, Ororo and the other X-Men watched the horror unfold. Things had moved so fast so suddenly that she was still grappling at making some sense of it.

‘The metal!’ that was the first thought that flashed across her mind at seeing the six claws sticking out through Rogue’s back. ‘There is no metal. Goddess, what has that monster done to him.’

Still in shock, it had come across as a kick to the stomach the look that had flashed in his previously empty eyes, one of pure panic. For a second she thought that maybe skewering Rogue like this had brought back some of his memories, that of the first time it had happened, the first time he had come to the institute. However, it did not take her long to realize that although the emotions were there, they weren’t for Rogue or even her, but towards his redheaded companion…and inspite of what all had happened between Logan and her, seeing her turn to Jean, or even her pale facsimile, sickened her. It sickened her that even now, even with his memories gone; Logan still managed to not only bond with this…this woman but bond with her so much that…

She did not complete her thought, nor did she get the time as seconds after he had plunged his claws into the southerner, the feral Wolverine had fallen to the ground, the way his bloody hands grabbed his head easily projecting the telltale signs of a telepathic attack.

//End Flashback//

---

“James.” Making a point to use his name, Madelyne started to rise up to step in front of him, only to have his hand shoot out and grab to still her. Even as the tightness of his grip caused pain to shoot through her wrist up her arm, that he had reacted and that he wanted her to stay close to him brought a little but sorely needed relief to Madelyne’s worries.

“Hey.” She moved again, sliding right next to him before standing up so as not to spook him any more. Running her free hand through his hair and frowning at the dried blood still coloring it, she grabbed it at the back and yanked to make him look up at her...only to have his eyes flit away from her. “HEY!” She raised her voice. “Look at me. Look up. Here,” she pulled at his hair, using her forearm for added pressure. “Please James…look at me.”

She had been the one who had given him his name, not wanting to address him the same way as Sinister.

X101, Animal…or the worst, Reject.

--

For Madelyne, it wasn’t a question of who she was or even the person she came from…not anymore.

Oh, she had and sometimes still wondered about her. Wondered about who this Jean Grey? Where was she now? Did she even know what had been done to her? Where were all those people that she (Jean) knew, including the red-glasses wearing man that she remembered….or at least thought that she did?

Whoever she had been, it was clear that Jean Grey had been someone of interest to Sinister, and now that she was a clone of the other woman, the maniac extended the same courtesy to her. Just like James, she too was his slave, his property, of that Madelyne had no doubts, but unlike how he was with the feral, with Madelyne Sinister’s actions were almost caring. Almost.

Even when Sinister came to know about her having been ‘with’ the animal…that she had laid with him, it wasn’t Madelyne that he said or did anything to. All his rage and anger was for James. Maybe it was just that she chose someone other than him or maybe it was that she had chosen this bestial reject, whatever the cause was Sinister’s reaction had been swift. It would be a month before James healed enough to even think an independent thought, let alone speak. That is how much the monster hurt him.

Although not as potent as his own healing abilities, Sinister knew that the animal had enough of it that any physical torture…any punishment would soon heal over. Besides, using one’s hand was so passé, so time consuming. It was much simpler to exercise the mind, especially when against such weak minds.


Yet, inspite of all they had to suffer after their first time with each other, the two had gotten together again and again and again, until finally they stopped using a second bed. As for their master, though disappointed with Madelyne he allowed her to have things her way, for even if she was soiling her body Sinister noticed that her proximity kept the animal under control. In the past, he had resorted to frequent lobotomies to keep the ‘Wolverine’ from rising up or getting too restless, and though it did not matter to him either way, it was better to have things this way than to have a zombie nincompoop.

---

Now,

“James…” letting her voice drop to a whisper, Madelyne climbed into her lover’s lap, not letting go of her grip even as she straddled him. She wanted him to come out of his self-loathing stupor, and knew that it was up to her to give him something to ‘alpha’ over, both for him and for what resides inside him. She knew that it would most probably be painful for her, and though it might not be the only way to draw him out…it was the only one she knew.

Moving slowly so as not to startle him, she started by nuzzling at his face. Starting with soft kisses on his eyes, she moved down to his cheeks, his nose, his chin, finally ending with a slow lick across his frowning lips before placing her lips there, all the while slowly rubbing her free hand along his nape, her fingers extending to gently probe along the outer curve of one ear.

At his first sigh, she let her tongue slip out and past his lips, letting him get a better taste of her.

“James…please,” she groaned as letting her hand fall free, James lifted both his hands to her hips, his fingers digging into the soft flesh.

Knowing by experience, she felt his growls of anger slip away to give way to ones of rising arousal, the growing bulge at their junction making it all the more clear.

It wouldn’t be long now.


Neither of them paid any attention to the cries of a female sounding faintly through the walls.

---

Elsewhere,

-SNIKT-

“What the fuck?”

“Real kick in the ‘you are unique’ nuts, huh?”

Note: Decided to use this to setoff ‘James’ from Logan, both in their behavior and their inner ‘Wolverines’ for while Logan has had years to get his inner beast under control, James hasn’t…with Sinister’s diddling not helping matters.

Also, though I am not a fan of the pairing, just take this as my (kinda slim) attempt at a Jean-Logan coupling. :p

Next? He’s alive…and yes I know that at this juncture it isn’t all that much of a surprise or a secret. What is a secret is the person…the people he is with. Any guesses?

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