A Memory Worth Remembering

**This story contains /M tickling. Nothing really in a sexual nature; it's all in good fun. A few swear words here and there, but eh. We're all adults.**

_"Tonight's top story, an assassination attempt was made on the President today at the White House by whom witnesses are describing as a teleporting mutant...,"_ the television reporter rattled on as Logan watched with narrowed eyes from his seat on the couch and growled a type of thing always put him in a mood; not like he wasn't usually in a mood anyways, but still. It would be nice to see something else on the news for once other than another negative story regarding mutants.

As he continued to stew he then saw some movement out of the corner of his eye, lingering in the doorway. He moved his eyes in that direction, not surprised to see his friend, Rogue, hovering there as she shyly waved at him.

He had just returned to the mansion after being gone for so long so naturally he expected her to want to spend some time with him. To her he was the closest thing she had to family at the school, and she was one of the few people he had let past his gruff barriers. Their bond was quite unique.

"Hey, Logan," she smiled, standing in her usual attire of pants, long sleeves and gloves that covered up every inch of her skin aside from her face; the dog tags he had given her to hold onto fastened around her neck.

"Hey," he gave a small smile back, playing with the tv remote in his hand as Rogue came further into the room and motioned to the tv.

"What are yah watching?" Logan grunted and tossed the remote to the end of the couch.

"Just the same ol' bullshit." She nodded as he then motioned for her to come join him with a flick of his head. She dropped down onto the sofa next to Logan as he put his arm up on the back of the couch, letting her snuggle into his side and being careful of any skin to skin contact. They just sat there in comfortable silence for a few minutes as they continued to watch the news broadcast.

"Do you think we'll ever be accepted by the humans?" She finally broke the silence as he glanced down at her and shrugged.

"I don't know, darlin', it's a tricky situation. Most of 'em don't seem to wanna have anything to do with us. But ya know we won't go down without a fight an' unfortunately that seems where we're headed at the moment," his face was somber as he turned back to the tv just as the program went to commercials.

"Well Ah just hope by then that Ah'll be able to control my powers. So Ah won't accidentally hurt anyone and ruin our chances," Rogue frowned slightly as Logan took notice and moved his arm down around her shoulders, giving her a gentle squeeze. She always managed to bring out the softer side of him.

"Ahh don't worry. I know you'll learn one day. Until then you can practice on me if ya need to since yer least likely to kill me. I'll be yer guinea pig." He heard her giggle as he smirked and gave her another squeeze; happy to have lightened her mood a little.

"Well how about we start now?" She teased and he gave a low growl.

"Don't ya even think it, smartass," he raised his brow in typical Wolverine fashion and reached over with his other hand to poke at her ribs playfully.

"Logan!" She let loose a squeal and tried to block his hand with her arms; the dog tags around her neck jingling as she squirmed. Logan just smirked again and kept it up for another moment. Tickling wasn't something he'd normally do, but he knew that Rogue loved any kind of physical interaction she could get.

Besides, he had promised that he would take care of her and that included keeping her happy. She was little winded from laughing when he finally stopped and she looked up at him adoringly.

"What?" Logan asked, slightly confused by the way she was looking at him while she just laughed again.

"No one's tickled me in a long time. Not since my mutant powers developed anyways."

"Really? Not even that ice kid?" She shook her head and bit her bottom lip.

"We're still working on how close we can actually be with each other. Just taking it slow, yah know?"

"Makes sense," Logan nodded and then grinned, "Guess those threats I made to 'im about keepin' his hands to 'imself worked then." Rogue gaped at him making his grin grow wider.

"Logan, yah didn't...!" She laughed before lightly punching at his stomach as the man just kept smirking and shrugged.

"Ya may never know." She was still punching him, though it simply was having no effect on him and he decided to let her know.

"Ya can cut that out now. Ya can't hurt me."

"Oh yes Ah can! Or have yah forgotten where this conversation started?" She looked up at him in mock fury and pretended to remove one of her gloves. Logan gave her a stern look.

"Try it an' I will tickle ya 'til ya can't breath. So since I'm sure ya don't want that it looks like we're at an impasse." Rogue pouted and put her hands down, settling back down against his side.

"Hmph, Ah guess so." It was quiet for another minute aside from the noise coming from the tv before Rogue broke the silence again.

"So...since we're on the subject...when was the last time yah got tickled, Logan?" The question shocked him from his thoughts as he fumbled for an answer.

"Uhhmmm...I don't remember. But I'm not ticklish so it doesn't matter." At least he didn't think he was ticklish. Maybe a little, but he really couldn't say for sure. It's not like people just went around and thought it would be a good idea to try to tickle the Wolverine. No one except his Rogue that is.

"Are you sure? If you don't remember then how do yah know you're not?" She smiled impishly, already resting a gloved hand against the man's side before he could respond.

Logan looked down almost surprised as he felt the touch. He knew where this was going, but didn't want to pull away and increase her suspicions. Better to just get this over with now.

Seeing that she had his attention, Rogue began lightly wiggling her fingers against the fabric of the white t-shirt that covered his ribs. As the gentle sensations registered from the nerves in his skin up to his brain, Logan began to get nervous. It tickled. A lot. Shit, he was going to have to pull off some good acting now.

Her fingers pressed in a little deeper and Logan desperately wanted to jump away. But he didn't. He held as still as he possibly could while trying so hard not to show any reaction on his face. She poked at his ribs one by one _(Urghhk!_), scratched her fingers over his belly _(Gaaah!)_, and squeezed around his waistline _(Oho, not there!)_, but the feral mutant managed to keep up his poker face and prevent his muscles from twitching in reaction.

After a few more seconds and seeing no response from him Rogue slowly removed her hand with a disappointed pout. Logan relaxed, thinking those years of meditation and learning to keep his focus had paid off. He smirked in satisfaction.

"Are ya convinced now?" He was about to continue his gloating when unexpectedly he felt a pair of hands reach in from behind him and dig into his armpits.

"Aaargghh!" Instantly he gave a loud yelp and shot up off the couch, toppling over the coffee table and barely missing knocking over the television. He quickly got up and whirled around to find Scott leaning over the back of the sofa, hands still outstretched to where they had just tickled him. That ruby-tinted glasses wearing dickhead! He must've snuck in and been watching while Logan was distracted with this whole tickling thing.

"Well would you look at that. Not ticklish, huh?" Scott chuckled with a snarky grin as Logan just glared at him in a way that brought promises of death. Slow, painful, agonizing death. The resulting laughter from Scott and Rogue over his reaction would have had any other normal person blushing in embarrassment, but he was Wolverine and Wolverine doesn't blush. Well, guess he thought Wolverine wouldn't have been ticklish either and look how well that turned out.

Not knowing what to say that would help him save face Logan promptly growled and made his retreat before the matter could be pressed any further. One thing that he was damn sure of though was that this was not the last time his ticklishness would be tested.

.

.

.

He needed to go blow off some steam. What the hell made Scott think he could take such liberties with him? They certainly weren't anything remotely close to being considered friends so the only logical conclusion was that the man was just being an asshole. Deliberately trying to piss Logan off, and he had succeeded.

They'd always been at each others throats since the day Logan was brought to the mansion, but Scott had never actually gotten to him until today with the way he had embarrassed him. Luckily no one else had been around to witness that moment so Logan just hoped that one-eyed dork would keep his mouth shut. Not even bothering to change into uniform he headed straight for the Danger Room, needing to let out all his pent up aggression.

"Run program '51284-C'," he called out to the empty room as he stood in the center.

'Program 51284-C commencing.' The room remained empty and quiet before Logan heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Back for more, I see." Logan smiled tightly as he turned around to face the holographic figure standing behind him, wearing that ridiculous visor over his eyes as usual. Snikt snikt.

"Ya know it. Let's go, pretty boy," Logan growled and he charged as fast as he could towards the hologram, who readied his hand at the side of his visor.

.

.

.

"Must you always go so hard in the Danger Room? You might actually end up killing yourself one day," Jean sighed as she cleaned some of the wounds on Logan's torso that were a little slow to heal on their own. Logan grunted in reply and rolled his eyes; the gurney he sat on swaying a little from his weight.

"I'm sure there are some people around here that wouldn't mind that. Too bad fer them I plan on stickin' around a little longer," he grinned and winked at her as she gave him a look and proceeded to rip the bandages off of his healed wounds.

"Ouch! Hey, watch the hair!" Logan yelped and rubbed the violated areas on his chest as Jean just smirked in amusement.

"Big baby," she turned and started cleaning up while Logan removed what little remained of his t-shirt and pulled on a fresh one that Jean had set out for him.

"Seriously though, ya need to ditch that loser of a boyfriend that ya got. Find yerself a real mean. Hell, ya got one right here," his grin returning as Jean tossed the used bandages in the garbage and sighed.

"Logan, I like you. I really do. But when you commit yourself to a person then you stay committed. It's not fair to them otherwise." Logan grunted and glanced away, knowing she was right, even if it was with Scott. He slid down off the gurney and decided to change the subject.

"So have ya watched the news lately?" Jean nodded.

"Professor is going to have Storm and I head out tomorrow and try to make contact with this alleged mutant assassin. See if we can find out anything."

"He's lucky I'm not goin' with ya 'cause I'd give that guy a real piece o' my mind fer puttin' us mutants behind like this," Logan growled, the skin of his knuckles tingling as he held back his claws.

"Lets not make any judgements now until we hear his side of the story. It all could be a misunderstanding," the telepath gave his mind a soothing caress that calmed his anger and halted the tingling in his hands.

"Fer his sake it had better be the latter, that's all I gotta say. Well thanks fer playin' nurse fer me," he started to walk out when Jean called to him.

"Oh, by the way, Logan. I heard the funniest thing today. Care to know what it was?" Logan just shrugged, leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Hmph, why not?" Jean's reply was sent not with words, but with a telekinetic caress that started at his wrists and gently moved up his forearms. Logan looked at her in confusion, but also feeling the hidden lust he had built up inside of him start to rise.

"Jean...," he breathed as the caress went over his biceps up to his shoulders, next sliding over his chest. It lingered there, rubbing slow circles over his firm pectorals as Logan got lost in the trance.

Any other thoughts he had about what was happening quickly vanished as the caress slid towards his sides and turned into a feeling as if someone was prodding playfully into his armpits. Logan jumped and yelped in surprise as the sensation immediately stopped now that Jean had the confirmation she wanted.

"Sorry about that, Logan. But I had to get you to let down your guard for a moment so I could see for myself it it was true. I didn't think you of all people would be...ticklish. I mean, I thought you had just been joking that time after Liberty Island when I was tending your wounds and you told me I was tickling you," she mused as Logan felt his face get hot; blushing despite his best efforts.

He was definitely going to kill Scott the next time he saw him. The real one. Not that holographic nonsense. There was no where in this world that little pipsqueak could hide. Logan got even more on guard then usual now as he straightened up, clearing his throat a bit and avoiding Jean's gaze.

"Don't be embarrassed. Everyone's got their own little soft spots. Even you," she smiled warmly and moved towards him, trying to get some eye contact, but he kept his glued to the floor.

"Ya must think differently of me now. Now that ya've seen I'm weak," the feral muttered, finally looking up when she placed a physical hand on his arm.

"Of course not. You're the most fearless man I've ever met and nothing will ever change my opinion of that. Besides, being ticklish does not make you any less of a man. I think it's cute." Logan groaned.

"Great. So now I'm cute." Jean couldn't help but laugh.

"Yes, but I mean that in the most macho kind of way," she paused for a moment, letting him soak that in before continuing, "But seriously, Logan, can you remember the last time someone tickled you?"

There it was again. Someone asking him about when he last had been tickled. He couldn't help but feel that maybe it wasn't a good thing that he couldn't remember and started to feel a little low. Being a telelpath, Jean could sense his dismal state and tried again.

"How about the last time you actually laughed?" Laugh. That wasn't something he was used to doing. He stretched back into his memory as far as he could, but found none of it contained any moments to laugh about. Everything was pain. Physical and mental pain. He shook his head and sighed, looking away again.

"No. I can't remember." Jean gave his arm a soft squeeze.

"Well...would you like to try? I'll bet you have a great laugh," she smiled as his eyes moved back over to hers.

"What're ya sayin'? Ya sayin' ya wanna tickle me?" She nodded.

"Just think of it as an experiment," Jean started, noticing him get a little uncomfortable with that word.

"I don't much like havin' experiments done on me," he growled and she tried to put him at ease.

"It won't be like that. There will be no restraints, and you will be in total control of everything. I promise. You trust me, dont you, Logan?" He did and she knew it. She was one of the few people he fully trusted and he knew her intentions were good. So of course he nodded in reply.

"Yeah, ya know I do, Jeanie." She reached out a hand to him and he took it in his own as she led him across the lab to one of the padded tables they used for medical patients.

"This ok? Just take whatever time you need and make yourself comfortable." Logan climbed up onto the table and laid down, nervously eyeing the wrist and ankle restraints placed strategically around the table. They had been beefed up to contain even the most strongest of un-agreeable patients.

"Don't worry about those. I promised no restraints," she comfortingly rubbed his shoulder as he began to relax a bit. He was still wary though, not being able to remember experiencing something like this and not knowing how it was going to end up. But he was willing to try it out, especially with how convincing Jean could be to him.

"So, um, I figured you could leave your clothes on, except...," she grinned as she wandered down to the end of the table and ran her hands across the tops of his thick, leather boots, "...these. We should see where we get the best results from." Logan was a little apprehensive and almost said 'no', but the enthusiastic look Jean had on her face gave him a change of heart.

"Alright, if ya say so," he watched as she quickly got to work unlacing his boots. Once getting through that obstacle she grabbed each one and gave them a firm tug to pull them off of his feet. She placed them on the floor and then reached up his jeans legs to snag the tops of his socks. She dragged them down off his feet before bending over to stuff them into his discarded boots. He wiggled his toes a little as Jean came back up into his view and looked down at his feet.

"My, what big feet you have," she teased him, unable to resist lightly running a finger up the length of his sole. An instant grin washed over Logan's face as he twitched the assaulted foot, holding back the giggle. That really tickled.

"Well ya know what they say about guys with big feet. Come to think of it Scott has really small feet, doesn't he?" His grin had turned cocky until Jean took another swipe at his foot with a slight roll of her eyes and made him flinch again. She was pleased with his reactions, but decided to save his feet for later and walked back over to the side of the table.

"Just let me know when you're ready to start. Unless of course you've changed your mind, " she bit her bottom lip in anticipation of his answer, but he just shook his head.

"Nah, I think I'm ready." Surprising without any influence from her, he raised his arms and folded them behind his head. A very trusting act on his part that had Jean smiling on the inside.

"Let's do this, " he said so confidently that he almost believed it himself. Jean gave a nod and slowly reached out and placed her hands flat-palmed onto his stomach just to ease him into feeling her touch. After a moment she raised her hands slightly into the more familiar looking claws that one might associate with tickling and lightly began dragging her fingernails up and down his hard belly.

Instantly she felt the muscles contract beneath her fingers as Logan gave a funny sounding growl. She glanced at his face and could see that he was gritting his teeth. He was used to always being on the defense and not showing any weakness to anyone so it was a bit of a reflex for him, like when Rogue had tried to tickle him earlier.

"Don't hold back, Logan. Just let it out. Laugh. You'll feel better," Jean encouraged him, wiggling her fingers over his stomach a little faster as they skated through the crevices between his abdominal muscles. Logan finally allowed himself to smile, even slipping out a few quiet giggles as Jean continued to tickle his belly.

Hearing him start to let his guard down, she then moved her hands to his lower ribs and repeatedly squeezed them through his t-shirt with her thumbs and forefingers. With that, Logan snorted and began to squirm around as Jean grinned.

"That tickle?" She asked, not even needing to read his mind to know the answer.

"Ye...Yeahehehehe," Logan nodded, now letting the chuckles flow freely as he writhed on his back. This wasn't as bad as he had been anticipating, though it seemed she was still going easy on him. She dug in a little deeper with all ten fingers as she moved up his sides, but impressively Logan managed to keep his arms up even as his laughter rose in volume.

As she neared his armpits though he was finding it harder to resist the urge to pull his arms down, but he fought it with everything he had. Jean leaned over him, watching for his reaction as she aimed to make contact with the area she had telekinetically attacked earlier.

Pausing just for a moment to throw him off, she burrowed her hands into the sensitive hollows under his arms and busted the dam.

"Baaahahahahhahaa! Noooo!" Logan bellowed out as his body flopped around like a fish out of water, rolling on the table from side to side.

"Hmmm, weak spot, huh?" Jean laughed with him as she kept scratching and clawing with her fingers. It was obvious that she was thoroughly enjoying this.

After another minute Logan couldn't take it anymore and jerked his arms down, quickly grabbing hold of Jean's wrists and holding them away from his body. Jean looked back at his still smiling face as he panted slightly.

"Do you want me to stop?" Logan caught his breath and gently released his hold on her. He didn't want to admit it, but he couldn't say with truth that he hated what she was doing to him.

"Umm...no. I'm sorry. I'm just...ya know," he gave a shy smile and looked off to the side as the restraints caught his attention again. He glanced above his head and saw some more sitting at the corners of the table and gradually raised his arms again to slip his wrists through the thick leather cuffs.

Jean couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Logan?" She looked at him with questioning eyes. She knew Logan hated being tied up, and she couldn't blame him what with the glimpses she had seen in his mind of his past. Him voluntarily allowing this said a lot about how much trust he put in her.

"It's alright. Just do it," he nodded, indicating for her to reach up and tighten the buckles on the leather straps. She obeyed with slight hesitation, looking at his face and waiting for him to change his mind at any moment. He remained completely calm the whole time and kept still as she finally got him secured.

"The feet too," he nodded towards the other end of the table and Jean took another moment to take this all in before she gently placed his ankles through the cuffs and tightened them.

"Are you sure you're ok with this?" She asked as he just smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm a lil' more ticklish than I thought I'd be, an' the last thing I'd want to do is accidentally hurt ya. Besides, I've been through worse tortures." She frowned.

"I don't want to torture you, Logan. We're friends." Logan noticed her offense and shook his head.

"I didn't mean it like that. Well...what I mean is...I...I guess this is kind of fun," he blushed a little with that admission, but was happy to see Jean's face brighten up again.

"I'm really glad you feel that way. You deserve some fun every now and then. So you're sure you don't mind this? I'm pretty good at tickling a man. Just ask Scott."

"That waste of space is ticklish too? Good to know," Logan grinned as he began plotting his revenge.

"Well he told me about you so I suppose it's only fair. So...ready to get back to it?" She asked, placing her hands on his sides and putting a little pressure with her fingertips to make his skin crawl. Logan sucked in his breath, nervously waiting for those fingers to start tickling now that his body was so defenseless.

"Ho...Hold on a sec. I think I'm gonna need a safe-word with this. Just in case I really can't stand it anymore."

"Alright. That's a good idea. Well what do you want it to be?" Logan glanced over the surrounding lab area for inspiration, noticing a tray of beakers on one of the tables. That was a word that wasn't in his normal vocabulary.

"Hmmm, I guess I'll go with 'beaker'," he barely got that out before convulsing in laughter as those evil fingers began wiggling and probing between his ribs.

"Well now that we got that out of the way," Jean laughed, tickling a little faster up and down his sides as he squirmed around.

"Beaker!" Logan yelled out and Jean immediately stopped as promised; albeit a little surprised.

"What? Already?" She looked at him with raised eyebrows and Logan just smirked.

"Heh, just kiddin'."

"Oh, I see you've got jokes, huh? Well now you're in for it, tough guy," she smirked back and grabbed him around the hips, squeezing and scratching around his waistline as Logan's body instantly jumped as far as the restraints would allow him.

"Ohoho no! Jean! Wait! Not thehehehere!" He threw his head back and laughed deeply as his body twisted in reaction and tried to evict her hands.

"Why not? I think I kinda like this spot. Look how much it makes you laugh. Hmm, but how about I go back to another proven spot," she grinned and launched her tickling fingers back to his armpits, causing him to let out a howl before dissolving into loud guffaws. He couldn't pull his arms down like before as they jerked at the leather straps holding them in place.

He just had to take it now, though that had been the idea. He started giggling hysterically as Jean experimented and slid over to gently stroke the tendons in his neck, making her smile widely.

"I think we need to call this game 'where is Wolverine NOT ticklish?' Is there even such a place?" She teased him as he shrugged as best as he could, trying to use his head to block her hands from his neck.

"Hmm, maybe if I go a bit south...," she pretended to contemplate as she worked her hands back through his armpits, down his sides to his belly and waist before going a little further to playfully squeeze his thighs and knees.

"Noooohohohohoooo!" Logan howled; his legs now pulling at the restraints. Every time she went for the inside of his thighs he had to fight to hold back a squeal that threatened to come out.

"Like that? I knew you would, " Jean giggled, managing to get the backs of his knees as he kicked and laughed.

"Laahaahaahaaay offa thehehehere!"

"Well...I guess I could. Besides, I still haven't got to your feet yet, " she grinned menacingly as she stopped and moved down towards where his bare feet sat helpless. Logan took the moment to try to catch his breath, but couldn't help feeling nervous as she brushed her fingers over the tops of his feet.

"No...wait a minute...hehehehehehhe...dont...," he sputtered, not knowing exactly how ticklish his feet were, though that light touch already had him giggling. Jean just smirked at him.

"If you really didn't want me to do it then you'd say your safe-word. Go on. Say it, and there will be no more tickling," she paused and waited for him to say the word he had chosen. The man just kept silent and continued to giggle nervously, though she could see him pleading through his eyes. Not that she was going to let that influence her.

"Hmmhmm, thought so. Now lets see about these feet. I'll bet they're really ticklish," she was grinning bigger than ever as she lightly drew all her nails up his soles, amused by how they tried to flinch away.

She repeated the action, using more pressure this time as Logan yelped and let go a few chuckles.

"Is...Is it too laahaate to b...beg...hehehe...fer mehehercy?" He smiled sheepishly.

"Oh, you can beg all you want. In fact, I hope you do. But I won't be stopping until you use your safe-word," Jean was grinning so big it made Logan smirk.

"Heh, yer really enjoyin' this, aren't ya?"

"How could I not?" She teasingly tickled the tops of his feet, making him break into giggles again. Without pausing this time she began to scratch at his soles, finding his arches particularly sensitive judging by the way the man roared with laughter.

His feet wiggled and flexed; the toes curling and splaying in ticklish reaction, but also drawing Jean's attention to them. She grabbed a hold of one set and began probing underneath and between them with just one finger as Logan actually shrieked and began thrashing his body like crazy.

"NO! No! Stop it! Ahahahahaahaahaaa! Not the toes! An...Anywhere, but my tohohohohoes!"

"What's that? Is the mighty Wolverine begging me not to tickle his wittle toes?" Jean giggled, grabbing each toe one by one and holding it in place between thumb and forefinger as she scraped a long fingernail up and down it's length. Logan nearly had a heart attack. Well, not literally given his healing factor, but he sure felt like it.

He was laughing harder than he'd ever had in his life as he could feel the tears running down his red cheeks. He was shocked as he thought that this actually felt good. The tickling was unbearable, but getting all this laughter out that he had been keeping in him for so long was relieving. He'd have to try this laughing thing more often.

Still though, he wished that she would just stop tickling his damn toes. Seeming to sense his thoughts, Jean relented and released his toes, going back to tickling his soles.

"Tickle tickle tickle," she smiled at the way the soles wrinkled from his toes immediately bending over in protection as she zig-zagged her  
fingers across the balls of his feet all the way down to his heels and back up repeatedly. She couldn't resist attacking his arches once again to hear that deep, growling laughter of his some more.

Logan had a pretty high pain tolerance, but apparently it wasn't the same for tickling as his tolerance had unfortunately started to fade.

"Ok! I...I thihihink I've hahahahad enough!" He hollered and attempted yanking his feet free.

"Ah ah ah! You have to say the magic word," Jean grinned as she kept up her assault, tickling a little faster as she realized this was almost the end. It took a moment for Logan to remember what that word had been, giving Jean a little more fun with him before it all finally came back.

"B...Beaker! Beeheeheeeaker!" Honoring their agreement, Jean stopped tickling him as Logan's body instantly relaxed; letting his head fall back against the table and gulping in large amounts of air. The smile still plastered on his face might have been the most genuine smile that Jean had ever seen from him and it gave her a warm feeling inside. She gave him another minute to catch his breath and then walked back over to his side.

"You ok?" She asked with concern in her voice as he looked up at her; a grin on his hairy face.

"Never been better, darlin'." He meant that. The woman had just tickled him crazy, but he felt great. Better than he could remember ever feeling and it was all thanks to her, though really he probably would've never allowed anyone else to get him in this kind of position.

"So you had fun? Dare I even go as far to say that you liked it?" She smiled, and started to undo the restraints on his wrists.

"Heh, yeah. To an extent I guess. Don't think I'm gonna be lettin' ya near my toes again though," he blushed slightly, stretching out his arms when they were finally freed as he sat up.

"Hm, well I had fun too. I don't get to do things like that very often. I try to tickle Scott, but he doesn't really like it. He gets a bit upset when I try," Jean kind of frowned as she moved down to the foot of the table to release his ankles.

"Hmph, I knew there was somethin' wrong with that guy. What kinda man can get mad about a woman wantin' to put 'er hands all over 'im? Fuckin' doucebag," Logan growled before chuckling as Jean tickled his feet, jerking them away from her reach now that he was completely released from the restraints.

"Hey, that's my man you're talking about," Jean scolded him, handing him his boots and socks as he turned his body to dangle his legs over the edge.

"Well he needs to get over 'imself. Ya deserve better'n that," he gave her a smile as he pulled back on his footwear. Jean smiled back, but that soon transformed into a smirk.

"You know, I thought about changing your safe-word to be 'Scott is awesome', but I didn't want to be that cruel." Logan snorted at how absurd that sounded as he jumped off the table; the sound of the boots that now protected his feet thudding on the floor and reviving his confidence.

"Darlin', ya could tickle me to death an' I'd still never say that," he puffed up his chest for intimidation factor as he stood in front of her, but it had no effect.

"Hmm, I'd be willing to find out," she teased and poked his ribs, succeeding in destroying his poise as he squirmed back with a soft laugh.

"Hehe, yeah well, maybe some other time." He then straightened up and opened his arms to envelope Jean in a hug. She was taken by surprise, but returned his embrace as they parted after a moment.

"What was that for?" She asked as he smiled a little and rubbed the back of his head.

"Ya know...just thanks. Fer bringin' out a side o' me that I didn't know I had."

"It was my pleasure. If you're ever up for it again then don't hesitate to ask," she grinned as he couldn't stop himself from grinning back, knowing she meant it.

"Yeah, alright. You'll be first on my list. Well, it's gettin' late so we should probably both get some rest. I'll stop by tomorrow to see ya before ya take off," he nodded and gently lifted her hand to kiss the back of it before walking out of the lab; catching the scent of her elation on his way.

As the door slid closed behind him he made his way down the hall, finding himself smiling again right before he rounded a corner and nearly bumped into the Professor.

"Ah, Logan. Evening. Turning in for the night?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, Jean was just patchin' me up from my trainin' session earlier. Ya know how I can go overboard sometimes," he gestured back towards the lab.

"Indeed. I trust she took good care of everything?" Xavier pressed as he noticed the relaxed posture that Logan displayed; very different from the normal defensive one he usually presented to everyone.

"Yeah. She fixed me up better than new." He knew Xavier had already picked up on it, but couldn't stop himself from smiling contentedly and encouraging the Professor's curiosity. With a quick peek into his mind, Xavier got a glimpse of what Jean and Logan had been up; absorbing the feelings of the feral man's current state of mind and unable to resist smiling too.

"Hmm, indeed." In that moment, Logan knew that Xavier had figured it out, but he didn't care. Nothing was going to ruin his mood now.

"Right. Well, I'll see ya later then, Chuck," he said and passed Xavier to continue down the hallway. The Professor gradually turned his wheelchair to watch him walk away.

"Goodnight, Logan. And pleasant dreams," he called after him as Logan looked back over his shoulder with a smirk.

"Thanks."

.

.

.

_Logan surveyed the stars in the clear night sky and took a deep breath as he inhaled the fresh scents of the mountain forest around him. Everything was so calm and peaceful, just how he liked it. The only light, other than what the moon cast, coming from the respectable sized cabin he had built setting atop a high peak about 50 yards behind him._

_Just being out in nature away from the loud noises and commotion that one would find in a city put him in a most tranquil state of mind. The cool air felt more than good on his bare chest and arms as he leaned back on his hands against the large rock he sat on near the cliff-side. He scuffed his sturdy boots in the dirt as his mind wandered over the day's events at his job in the logging industry. Him and the boys were going to have a lot of trees to clear out the next day._

_He was momentarily distracted by his thoughts, but still caught the scent of someone familiar approaching behind him and smiled. The little minx was always trying to sneak up on him, seemingly forgetting his super hyper senses that he was able to detect her with every time._

_The barely detectable snap of a small twig would've gone unheard by anyone else, but not him. In fact, he could now tell how close his stalker was with that audible clue along with her scent, alerting him that she was about to pounce. He growled playfully and was able to turn around with surprisingly quick reflexes and grab his attempted assailant just as she lunged for him._

_Without being too rough it didn't take long for him to pin her beneath him, holding her arms down with his hands as he looked down at her. There she was. The most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on. And she was all his._

_"Gotcha," he smirked as she narrowed her eyes at him, already planning her next move._

_"Or do you?" Using her feet, she shoved him as hard as she could, having enough force to throw him off balance as he landed in the dirt on his back. She scrambled to her feet and jumped on top of him; Logan getting no time to react before she started tickling his sides._

_"Hehehehahahaha! No faahaahaair!" He laughed freely and made a few lame attempts to stop her, but figured he'd let her win this one._

_"Who's got who now?" She smiled with sheer pleasure; her fingers working over his ribs at what felt like lightning speed._

_"Y...You do! You do! Hahahahahaha stohahahop!" He begged, knowing that's what she wanted to hear before she finally ceased the torment and lovingly stared down at him._

_He caught his breath and then saw how she was looking at him as he became lost in her gaze, smiling and raising a broad hand to gently stroke the side of her face. She brought her hand up to his and turned the palm towards her as she planted a delicate kiss on it, giving him a warm feeling over his body from head to toe._

_Without missing a beat, he cupped the back of her head and leaned up with an alluring growl as he pulled her down towards him. The resulting kiss was more than breathtaking as they tried to devour each other; hands groping all over the other's body as they gave into the ecstasy that they both felt. Time felt like it stopped for Logan at that moment as nothing else in the world seemed to matter to him other than the strong spirited woman that he held in his arms._

_After another couple minutes of passion they slowly parted lips and would've been content to just spend the rest of the night staring deep into each other's eyes. Life couldn't get more perfect for him._

_"I love you, Logan."_

_"I love ya too..."_

"...Kayla," Logan whispered in his sleep; a single tear rolling down his cheek as he laid in his bed. Xavier opened his eyes and removed his hand from his own temple as he rolled his wheelchair back away from the sleeping man.

He knew that with the state of mind he had found Logan in earlier it would be easier to try to unlock some of his memories with his guard being down. And after speaking with Jean a bit about it he knew exactly what memory to put his focus on finding. He figured having it come to Logan in the form of a dream would give the poor guy a break from the usual nightmares that he was plagued with and actually allow him a good night's sleep.

He was sure that Logan would definitely remember this after he had woken in the morning. A memory like that was not something he'd let go of so easily. Keeping as quiet as his wheelchair would allow, he made his way out of the room. He turned around to shut the door behind him and took one last glance at the feral.

Logan had gone back to snoring quietly; the only difference being that now there was a small smile on his face. With that, Xavier smiled himself in satisfaction and softly shut the door.

.

.

.

The next morning, Logan woke up feeling well rested and wondering if there had been some truth to that amazing dream he'd had. It was still so fresh in his mind and he kept replaying it over and over again so he would be sure not to forget one minute of it.

Kayla. He wondered who that had been and exactly what they had meant to each other. Just another question that he now had in his head, but he surely did not regret it. Maybe the Professor could shed some light on the whole thing. If it had been real that is.

Getting dressed, he wandered down to the kitchen to grab something quick to eat. It was still early enough that the kids hadn't gotten out of bed yet so he didn't have to worry about them crowding up the kitchen. He snatched a banana off the counter and finished eating it just as the man he had been wanting to see entered the room.

"Good morning, Logan. Did you sleep well?" The Professor asked with a smile that said he already knew the answer to the question. Logan figured out what Xavier's smile was saying and grinned bigger than ever as he realized that that hadn't just been a dream that he'd had last night. It was a memory. The greatest memory that had ever been revealed to him.

"Yeah, I did. Thanks a lot, Chuck. Really. Means a lot. You an' Jean...yer just too good to me." He didn't know how else to show his appreciation and just settled on shaking the Professor's hand.

"You're more than welcome, my friend. If you'd be up for it perhaps later we can see if we can free up some more memories of this Kayla. Of course you'd need to be as relaxed as you were last night. It would make it a lot easier." Logan nodded and gave a bit of a silly grin.

"I'm sure I can find a way. I know Jean wouldn't mind helpin' me out." They both looked up as someone else came into the kitchen.

"Hey, look who it is. It's the "impenetrable" Wolverine," Scott sneered, emphasizing the word by making quotation mark gestures with his fingers. Logan growled in annoyance as Scott put his hands up in mock surrender.

"Woah, calm down there, Chuckles. Wouldn't want things to get ticklish around here," he badgered the feral with his double entendre as Logan angrily took a step towards him with his fists clenched at his side.

Armpits. Stomach. Knees. He was stopped as a voice spoke those words into his head. Xavier's voice. He turned around to look questionably at his mentor as Xavier just used his eyes to gesture towards Scott.

It took Logan a second, but he was soon grinning as he put it all together. He turned back towards his rival.

"Whaddya say we settle this in the Danger Room? Five minutes from now. Just you an' me. Then we'll see who's laughin'."

"Well knowing the little secret about you that I know I'm sure you'll be doing plenty of it. Well probably me too, but mine will be all voluntary of course. Hm. But ok, lets do it. Maybe it'll teach you to stay away from my girl too," the cocky grin on Scott's face only enhanced as he slapped Logan on the back and headed off.

As he departed, Logan faced Xavier again as they both smiled in union and Logan gave the man a nod of thanks. He then began planning out his tactics as he cracked his knuckles and made his way to the Danger Room. Today was going to be a good day.


End file.
