Freaky Friday (March 2013)

Natalya looked at him. "Of course I love being an Avenger, but I love Logan more. I'm not attracted to Peter the way I am to Logan. Looking at Peter's body doesn't get me worked up the way it does when I look at Logan's. I don't want to marry you in Peter's body...I want to marry Logan...the whole Logan...the man I love... mind, body, and soul. I did not stay with the team because I felt obligated to you...I stayed because I wanted to because you were here. I made that choice. However, I cannot stay here and look at Peter in your body and know that I won't ever be able to make love to that body again. I'm not leaving to make you angry Logan. I'm leaving so that you can have what you want without me standing in your way."

Peter (Logan) Narrowed his eyes. “You know that the only way you get to me is by standing in my way. If you know me, you know that. I respond to adversity. We both do, so why are you prepared to cut and run now?” he asked. “What if I’m not going to ‘let’ you leave,” he said and moved up to her. He tossed the bag she was packing to the side and it slid over and stopped against the wall. He put his hands on her and pushed her up against the dresser. Everything on the dresser shook and toppled over.

“I think you stay away from me because you’re afraid you could deal and what that would mean. You’d be taking part in this, somehow. I thought you of all people would have the courage to at least see if this could work. How can I be stealing something that doesn’t belong to him? This IS me Natalya. Just in a different shell,” He said as he came up on her. He touched her face and neck where he always did and his facial expressions were very much the same as well.

“You say you can’t but I think its more like, you won’t. Well, I want you Natalya. Your Logan, your man wants you. He needs you right now, are you just going to walk away from him?” he asked. There was not much difference in height, Logan was of average height like Peter so that was at least, on par.

Natalya did truly love Logan and wasn't sure how happy she would be in her life without him. Could she make this work? It was still Logan inside there, right? Perhaps she could try. She watched as Peter (Logan) shifted and moved in to kiss her. His lips felt...different. He smelled different. She closed her eyes and forced herself to kiss him back. She didn't pull back, but Logan would know that there was no passion behind Natalya's kiss. It was very...mechanical. She was forcing herself to do this instead of doing it because she wanted to. Natalya knew in that moment that despite the fact that Logan was in Peter's body she would not be able to make it work.

Peter (Logan) Pulled back from the kiss and they looked into one another’s eyes. Natalya was the same person but the look in her eyes was not the same. The rigidness of her body against him. The mechanical way she kissed him spoke alot more than any words would. Peter furled his brow and closed his eyes as if he were in pain. He knew then that there was no other choice. If he wanted things to remain the same, which he did. Natalya would leave and he would lose her. Likely to Malcolm. He knew if she went back to him that she would hang on to him hard. Why would he allow that? Why would he do all of this work with her to just watch her go? He wouldn’t and so he will not, he thought.

“Don’t go...you...everyone will get what they want,” He said softly and then stepped away from her and out of the room. He needed somewhere to be alone. Would it happen while he was awake? He didn’t know. He only knew that his relationships were more important than the suffering he felt and would feel. Damn them...damn them all! He thought as he lay back on the leather couch in the game room. He held the 8 ball and he looked at it in his hands. He more than most, knew that life was far from fair. Damn himself for a fool.

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Peter had hardly slept in the last few days. He didn’t want to be anywhere where Serena was. The look in her eyes broke his heart every day and there was nothing he could do about it. In their room he lay back on the recliner and flipped through the channels on the tv. There was nothing on and he yawned. His eyes burned with lack of sleep and they were too dry. Closing them made them feel better and after just a few minutes he was out.

Serena had also not slept very well the past few days. She hated what was happening and she felt helpless to do anything about it. She wanted Peter back. She wanted to be able to kiss him and feel his arms around her. She wanted him...all of him. She lay in bed and fought back the tears that came to her eyes, but to no avail. The tears came and began to stream down her cheeks. She rolled over onto her side and cried into her pillow until she finally fell asleep out of pure exhaustion.

Natalya remained in her room the rest of the night. The following morning she was up early and down in the gym. She missed having Logan as her sparring partner. She felt lost and incomplete without him. She sighed and took another hard swing at the punching bag.

Logan yawned and sat up. Once again he recalled the odds dreams and the strange sense of movement as if he were some kind of apparition or ghost. It gave him a giddy feeling deep down inside, like a laugh that hadn’t yet bubbled up to the surface. He turned and heard the soft sleep sounds of Serena. He touched his face and remarked at the stubble that had already grown there. That wasn’t...he began and remembered that he had laid down in the game room. Well, what was he doing here, in Serena’s room? Silently he stood and looked down at his thick, burly frame. “I guess it worked,” he murmured to himself and quietly left the room.

He padded down the stairs only in his gray jogging pants. He had checked his own room but Natalya wasn’t there. This was where he knew she’d be and she was, tearing the shit out of the heavy punching bag. “Whoa there princess, what did that punching bag ever do to you?” he said in his usual rasp. He wiped the sleep from his right eye as he came toward her. Logan needed something from Natalya right then and he would not take ‘no’ for an answer. “Why don’t you try that shit with me,” he said and raised his hands and shifted into a fighting stance. “Unless you’re just too tired to fight an old man,” He grumbled and grinned as he shifted his footing.

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Peter yawned then coughed. He had an odd taste in his mouth and he looked up at the ceiling. He wasn’t in his and Serena’s room, he was in the game room. How had he gotten there? He didn’t know but he felt...different. The feeling was sudden and unmistakable. He looked over at the table next to the couch, there was a tall glass on it, half filled with a dark red liquid. “Ewwww…” he groaned. “That’s what it is...a bloody mary,” He said and winced as he got up and checked himself out. “Finally...I’m back!” he said and smiled nearly ear to ear as he tore up the stairs. He stopped in the kitchen to rinse his mouth out and take a few drinks from the faucet. “Disgusting!” He grumbled as he sucked down the water then dried his face. He was in a t-shirt and workout pants and he silently opened and shut the door to their room. Serena was sleeping hard and her little snore almost made him giggle. He got undressed and slowly climbed into bed with her. At first he saw her face crawl up into a smile as she felt him slide in next to her and then her eyes shot open.

Natalya saw some movement from the corner of her eye and as she turned her head she saw Logan standing there...or at least she thought it was Logan. She couldn't be certain until he began to speak. It was Logan alright! A wave of relief and happiness came over her and she smiled at him. She laughed at his provokes and then cracked her neck a little. "I'm just getting warmed up!" she taunted and then launched into an attack.

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Serena had been consumed by dreams of Peter. Some of the dreams were memories of their recent past, while others were hopes for their future. Without Peter, her future felt lonely and unsettled. She missed his comfort. The way his arms felt around her, the warmth of his body against her own...yes, just like that. Wait...who was in bed with her? Her eyes suddenly opened with a start and she found herself face to face with Peter. She knew it was him without even asking. She could feel it deep in her bones. That little smile could only belong to him. Tears of happiness filled her eyes and she threw her arms around him and kissed him...hard.

Logan watched Natalya pull down her top. Their ‘spar’ had only been him trying to fend her off. But eventually she managed to grapple him and then once her lips touched his there was no more sparring. They came up together, the pleased, happy light back into Natalya’s eyes once more. He had wondered how he had missed that light before but now that he was himself again, he saw it plainly. So perhaps, they were both fools for loving one another so much. He passed her a vita-water and they both smiled at Tony, Isabella, Kate and Steve who were at the table talking quietly over their coffees.

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Peter did not get a word in. Serena’s lips were on his and what she was saying in between her kisses made him blush. They both laid next to one another and he tilted his head up to see her discarded panties that hung down from his reading lamp. He wondered where those went. She sighed contentedly as she laid her head on his stomach.

“Bah, I still think I missed you more,” He said. It had been a running competition though if he were being honest...he had to say that maybe ‘she’ had one it...this time. “I think I’ve had my fill of...mind controlling villains for a while. “I bet everyone else is up by now,” Peter said but when she looked up at him he knew she wasn’t about to let him leave her just yet. “I wonder what you said to him…” He asked.