What Time Can't Heal (January 2015)

Logan’s mind moved a thousand feet a minute in the jet flight home. Kayle was alive. How was that possible? And what was she doing working for someone like The Spymaster? He had resolved his feelings for her a long time ago. What was also odd though was that she hadn’t aged a day. Not that he could see anyway. So many questions without answers. He had been very much in love with her. She was pregnant with his child and when hydra came for him they had killed her. He had even seen the body! As they exited the jet and moved back into the tower he and Natalya moved to their room straight away. He plucked 2 beers from the fridge and wished they were something much stronger right then. He handed one to Natalya.

“Because I thought she was dead…” Logan said as if his thoughts were a million miles away, which they were. “We...lived together in Canada for a few years,” he said then took a long drink from his beer yet it did nothing to moisten his dry throat right then. Natalya had likely never seen him like this. His voice was soft and shaky as if he was still in shock and confused by it all. He was standing there like a statue near her. He looked down at his beer but his eyes didn’t see it. They didn’t see anything. Obviously there was alot more too this, he was clearly upset and unhinged by seeing her again.

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“Peter, I need to talk to you,” Tony said. Peter looked back at Serena. He gave her a neutral smile. “Go ahead, I’ll be along in a few,” he told her and then stepped away toward where Tony was. Tony turned and walked into his office. When Peter stepped inside he closed the door behind him.

Peter came back into their room after about 15 minutes. He didn’t say anything right away as he came into the bathroom where Serena was washing up. He crossed his arms and leaned up against the wall behind her so she could see him in the sink mirror. “I think maybe we need to pull all of our data on the Arcbot out of Oscorp. All of our concepts as well,” Peter said without really explaining anything to her. His tone wasn’t demanding at al though. His tone was suggestive only

Natalya took the beer from Logan and she eyed him suspiciously. He was acting strangely. When he spoke his voice was soft and shaky. He was clearly affected by seeing this woman again. Natalya wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

“So, you were in love with this woman?”

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Serena glanced at Peter when her father asked to speak to him alone. Why not both of them? Was Peter hiding something from her? She went back to their room and began to get ready for bed. It was very late now and she was tired. She was washing her face when Peter returned. She listened to what he suggested and stood there a moment before turning to face him.

“Why did my father only want to talk to you Peter?” she asked. She wasn’t angry, but was curious about what was going on.

The question only seemed to trouble Logan further and indeed his brow did furl. He felt sick. Not because he still loved her but because he had thought she was dead and didn’t even look for her. Where had she gone? What had happened to her? Guilt flooded into him and made him grind his teeth.

“We were...together,” he said but noticed that Natalya was becoming more and more focused on him. “We were in love. She was...she was pregnant with our son,” He said. “I thought Hydra had killed her so I didn’t...I didn’t even look for her,” he said but then let out a soothing breath and snapped out of his stupor.

“But that was a long time ago,” Logan said as he looked into Natalya’s dark eyes.

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“I’m not certain I should talk about that with you. But I will if you ask me to Serena,” he said as he looked down at the floor. He was afraid she’s ask him to tell her everything. If he did that he was certain she would be angry with him. He has been the one to hold them back. He was the one that allowed her to fumble for the needle in the haystack blindfolded. Almost 2 years and he could have had the Arcbots working in under 6 months on his own. No, that would not be a fun conversation at all.

Natalya felt like she had been punched in the gut when Logan told her that this woman, Kayla, had been pregnant with his child. Natalya could not give Logan a child. It was not physically possible. But Kayla...she could, and Logan had once been in love with her? Now that this woman had come back into his life would he consider going back to her?

As Logan looked into Natalya's eyes, he would see her mind was turning and she didn't say anything. She simply walked into the bathroom and shut the door to start getting ready for bed. She washed her face and brushed her teeth and then emerged from the bathroom and started to get changed.

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Serena was surprised by what Peter said. It hurt her to a degree and she did want to know what had been discussed, but if Peter didn't think they should talk about it then she trusted him. She slowly nodded.

"Alright," was all she said in response. "We can move the information off of the server."

Logan hadn’t moved since she had gone into the bathroom. He watched her come out and then watched her begin to undress and get into clothes she wore to sleep in. He liked Natalya’s confident way she handled herself around him. Nakedness for her never bothered her and it certainly never bothered him especially if it was she that was getting naked.

“I don’t love her...I don’t even know her Natalya. I love you,” he said as he continued to watch her. He hadn’t even touched his beer since that first swallow but he did so now and took another swallow from it. “I need you as much as you need me,” Logan said. “But I need to know what happened to her too,” Logan said. “I don’t know why I never told anyone about her...about that time. I guess I just wanted to forget about it. If no one knew then i didn’t have to think about it,” he said.

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“Tony said we can use the lab office. Its not decorated, he’s never used it but its ours if we want it. I think we should take him up on it,” Peter said as he started to get undressed.

Natalya had never been shy around Logan. She was perfectly comfortable changing around him. She always had been. She listened to what Logan said and she sighed as she put on a tank top to sleep in. "That woman is able to give you a child when I can't. You're not even going to consider that?"

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Serena nodded at Peter's suggestion. "I think we should too." A thought then occurred to her and she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him from behind. He was shirtless and she ran her hands along his chest and abs. "You know...we never did get to properly celebrate our achievement..."

Logan drank down the rest of his beer then set the bottle on their desk. “That was a long time ago. I might not physically be as old as I am, but my mind is. I’m not father material Natalia and even if I were, you’re not mother material. So you can’t give me children. That might matter if I wanted children,” he said as he stepped into the bathroom. He went to the bathroom and then washed his face and brushed his teeth. He came out and moved to his dresser to get out of his clothes and put on his usual gray jogging pants. His back was to her as he continued.

“Are you asking because you’re concerned for yourself? Or for me?” he asked and turned to face her. He made a circling gesture with his finger. “This...thing we are is a good thing babe,” he said as he got into bed next to her. “And it works for us. I just want to find out what happened. It won’t change anything that has happened since,” he reassured her. He touched her cheek and turned her face to face him. “And I am sorry about calling you a bitch,” he said softly as he looked into her eyes. She’d know what that look meant. ‘Are we good?’ It seemed to ask.

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“Oh? I thought we had celebrated but we did not have a bed handy last time,” Peter said as he turned around to face her. She kissed him and where her hands moved then made his breath catch. He felt her mouth curl up into a smile, as she pulled him back toward their bed.

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The next morning Logan wanted to talk to Kate. But not when Steve was there. He and Natalya worked out as usual. They were boxing with padded gloves on this morning and both were breathing hard. This time Logan was on the offensive while Natalya held up the padded shield to block his punches and kicks. “I know it’s odd for me to ask you, but I need your help to find out where Kayla is,” he said as he punched twice then kicked. Natalya blocked then shifted one way, then the next then came back to face him again as if she were fighting multiple people at the same time. “I bet kate can find out...will you talk to her for me?” he asked.

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Serena woke to the feel of Peter shift as she laid next to him. She felt a sudden warmth and pressure on her left nipple as he took it into his mouth. As she shifted further she felt his fingers exploring her center. Peter was extremely good with his fingers. All that ‘manual dexterity’ he had from his mutation had its uses. It didn’t take long for him to get her off once more before they got up and started their day. He liked how he could get her breathing hard like this by just touching and kissing her. He felt her hold his hand where it was while she came down from the pleasure of her orgasm. And the look of pure love in her eyes as she looked up into his. It was becoming harder and harder not to ask her to marry him. Especially when she looked at him like this. He felt the words come to his lips right then and then she let his hand go.

“You going to take a shower this morning?” He asked her instead. He glanced at his desk drawer briefly where he had the ring. It was an exact duplicate of what she had picked out in the other timeline. A cheat perhaps but when he could remember, how could he just ignore that? She’d be able to tell he was on the verge of saying something important. His cheeks flushed slightly like they always did in that kind of scenario.

That night Natalya slept close to Logan in his arms. They didn’t have sex, but the level of intimacy was high. In the morning, they rose and got ready to workout. They went down to the training room and Natalya held the padded shield while Logan swung at her. She was quiet as she waited for Logan to speak. She knew he was going to say something about Kayla. She was just waiting. However, she wasn’t expecting Logan to ask her to help him find Kayla. Her first reaction was to say no, but she knew this was important to Logan. She sighed and they took a small break. “Alright I’ll help you find her.”

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Serena was left quite happy and satisfied that morning. She smiled at Peter as she laid there and caught her breath. She loved him. She had loved other men, but not like Peter. He was her soulmate...the love of her life. She could not imagine herself with anyone else. She saw him glance at his desk drawer after he asked her if she was going to take a shower. “I was thinking about it...why?” she asked with a little smile.

Peter shrugged. “I’ll just take one after you. I can go make our coffee,” he said and moved to their closet to put some clothes on. Black sweat pants and a white t-shirt. His hair was still a mess but he didn’t really care. He yawned as he stepped out of their apartment into the main living area.

Only Tony and Isabella were at the Kitchen table. They both had their laptops and were working with coffees near them. “Good morning,” he said in greeting as he went to make the coffees. Oh, morning Peter,” Isabella responded and gave him a quick smile. Isabella was already dressed as was Tony.

“I think we’re going to move our Oscorp operations here Tony,” Peter said. “Oh, awsum, a good idea,” Tony said. Peter looked at Isabella a moment then back down at what he was doing. “We’re going to move all of our project data as well and all of our testing equipment. You said you had room in the lab office?” he asked while he poured the peppermint creamer. “Oh yeah, plenty of room,” Tony said as he typed on his laptop. “Uh, great then,” Peter said and stepped away from them.

Tony knew that isabella was paying more attention than she let on to that exchange and waited for her to say something.

Kate coughed as she drank the tea Steve made for her. Steve had made her toast with cranberry nut bread and spread cream cheese over it like she loved. She was getting better but it was incrementally better. To their surprise Natalya knocked on their door and came into their apartment.

Isabella sipped her coffee as Tony and Peter spoke and pretended not to be paying attention to what they were saying as she scrolled through her phone, but Tony would know her well enough to know that she was in fact paying quite close attention. It wasn't just the words that were being spoken, it was the way Peter was saying them. There was something more going on here than he was letting on.

Once Peter was gone Isabella put down her phone casually and looked over at her husband. "What exactly is going on? And don't try to be coy with me. I'm not going to fall for it."

Kate hoped she was going to get better soon. Tony had threatened to call a doctor if she didn't. The medbed could do a lot, but sometimes a real doctor was needed. She wasn't really hungry, but she ate the toast Steve had made for her anyway because it was something she loved and Steve had prepared it especially for her. She tried to drink the tea and began to cough. Then, there was a knock at their door and Natalya walked in. Natalya never came into their apartment. She and Steve exchanged a look between them before Natalya spoke.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but Kate I need your help with something."

Kate raised an eyebrow in surprise. Natalya never asked her...or anyone that wasn't Logan for that matter...for help.

"I'm sure Steve told you about the woman last night...Kayla?" When Kate nodded she continued. "I need some help tracking her down. Logan wants to talk to her. Apparently, they were a couple once, but Logan thought she had been killed and he never saw her again. I have an odd feeling about her though that I can't quite put my finger on. She was arrested by SHIELD so I was hoping you could talk to Phil to get Logan permission to talk to her."

Kate’s eyebrows drew up in surprise. Initially because Natalya came in and asked…’asked’ for help and secondly for what she actually said. Natalya was quite the loner and not the talkative sort though Logan had great success with getting her to open up around them.

“Well, I can certainly call and make an inquiry for you, odd that he has never mentioned this woman, isn’t it?” She asked before she could stop herself.

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“Just men stuff...you know...timeline things…things he doesn’t want everyone to know, especially Serena. He’s taken great pains on letting everything happen between them organically. Not an easy thing when you know what’s going to happen. Or even if it’s just a version of that. It’s no different than what I did for you my love,” he said as he typed. “But I can say I think he’s going to ask her to marry him soonish,” Tony said.

Natalya glanced at Kate when she mentioned that it was odd that Logan had never mentioned this woman before. "I talked to him about it. He said he just never thought to since he believed she was dead. He didn't think it mattered."

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Isabella seemed relieved that the proposal was going to happen soon. "I was wondering if he was ever going to do it. He asked us for permission three months ago and he's had the ring for nearly 8 months. I think Serena's been anticipating it for a while now."

“You talk like she won’t wait for him. That girl will wait for him as long as it takes I think,” he said then looked at her. “I think once you slept with me you would have waited until I was ready. I mean, you can ‘say’ that being married to one of the wealthiest men in the world didn’t matter but...I think we both know it just made me even sexier,” he said with a grin.

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“And you believed that?” Kate asked. She had the bit in her mouth now since Natalya was here and wanted to help her. “Men always say that,” she said. Steve blinked but continued to watch his show on the tv. “He just didn’t want to talk about himself. He never did,” she said dismissively. “And he might of been concerned about how you’d take all that too. And ...how are you taking it?” She asked.

Isabella looked at Tony. "Of course she'll wait. She loves Peter dearly. Girls get excited about proposals though." She grinned at Tony a little. "Yours was pretty amazing. It honestly took me by surprise. I got my suit and a ring. I think though that proposal took the whole world by surprise. No one believed you were actually going to go through with the wedding...least of all my parents."

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Kate sounded horrible. Her throat was hoarse and kept coughing, but she seemed to want to continue the conversation. Natalya sighed when she asked how she was taking all of this. "I...I don't know, if I'm being honest. I know Logan loves me, but this woman also has a history with him. I'm afraid she's going to come in and screw everything up."

Tony smiled and chuckled. “Yes I quite enjoyed the looks on their faces. Especially the frown on your father’s face when his eyes met mine after he handed you off to me. I think he knew what very nasty things I was going to do to you a few hours later,” Tony said with a very wide smile as he remembered that day. “You are no less beautiful now than you were then, he said. “But do you think they were more surprised by that, or by you getting into one of my suits and flying around like a superhero? I know ‘that’ was a surprise to your brother,” he said.

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Kate blew her nose for the thousandth time and winced at how painful her nose was. “You have claim on him Natalya. I know you don’t like to think about marriage like that but if some woman tried to put her claws into Steve I’d fight for him. It took alot for you two to be together. You don’t ‘own’ one another but Logan deserves you, he’s fought for you for years. And you deserve to be loved and Logan loves you. I don’t know Logan as well as you do, but I do know that. Another woman ‘can’ muck things up, we hear about that everyday so we will find out everything we can about this woman. It is odd that Logan thought she was dead and now she’s not though. And it doesn’t explain why she didn’t look for him...from wherever she was,” Kate said with a grin. Kate loved a good mystery and this Kayla had mystery written all over her.

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Peter came in with the coffees. He had put them in travel mugs to stay warm. While Serena showered he attached his portable hard drive to his laptop and began moving all of their files over to it from Oscorps servers. It would take alot of time because he was deleting the data as he moved it but he wanted every scrap off of it. They’d work on redundant hard drives from now on and he’d back everything up onto a tape backup Tony had in the lab. He opened his desk and picked up the black ring box and looked at the ring again. He couldn’t wait to be married to her. He wanted children again, wanted to see her as a mother again. When she opened the door to the bathroom he put it quickly back into his desk and closed it. “How was your shower?” he asked as he stood up.

Isabella smiled a little at her husband. "Oh, I think they were very surprised by me in one of your suits. I was honestly shocked that you made one for me. I know you knew I wanted one, but I didn't know if you were really going to build one for me."

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Natalya listened to Kate and she spoke and she nodded. "Of course I'm going to fight for him. If this woman thinks she is just going to come back into his life, she's got another thing coming. Logan I'm not really worried about...but her...well that's another thing all together. I need Logan. He saved me in more ways than just one. Without him...without him I'd be lost," she said softly as she looked down."

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Serena finished her shower and stepped out in her robe. She had her hair up to towel dry and she began to get out her clothes. She had noticed Peter quickly putting something back in his desk drawer when she came out. She began to wonder if it wasn't a ring. The thought made her giddy with excitement, but she kept a neutral expression. She didn't want Peter to think she knew what was going on.

"It was good. Are you starting to move the files?" she asked when she saw the portable hard drive.

“If I told you how much that first suit cost, I wonder if the ring would have mattered much,” Tony said. For whatever reason he loved talking like this with Isabella. “But I’m not certain teaching how to fly in it didn’t cost me more either,” Tony said with a light-hearted wince. He had trashed his lab learning himself but she didn’t need to know that! “Like mother like daughter,” Tony said as he sipped his coffee. They both had done some damage to parked cars, buildings and the like when they learned how to control the suit in flight. For anyone who thought it was easy, they never got into one of them. It was far from easy.

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“Well I will do what I can Natalya. We all will. And this might not develop into anything either. Its good to be prepared though, wouldn’t you agree?” She said and smiled at Natalya. She hoped that she’d get a chance to get to know Natalya more. The woman was just so closed off. Logan and Steve didn’t always see eye to eye either so that strain had made it even more difficult.

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“I am, I thought about using a flash drive but I think a portable hard drive will be more stable and easier to keep an eye on. “I’ll use a tape backup that your father has in the Lab and we’ll work on redundant drives and back them up every night. I know that can be tedious but I think we will be protected if we do it. We still need to manage getting all of our hardware and testing equipment. Tony has agreed to compensate Oscorp for what we take with us. We’ll...have to talk to Norman about his stake in our project. It might get...legally sticky to remove our work like this,” Peter said.

Isabella laughed a little. "Of course the ring would have mattered still. The suit showed me you trusted me. The ring showed me that you wanted me," she said as she looked down at the rings on her finger and then looked up and smiled at him. "Do you ever regret tying yourself down to just one person? I mean, before you met me you were a pretty hardcore playboy and bachelor. You kinda did a hard 180 turn on your lifestyle."

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Natalya gave a little nod. She hoped it wasn't going to develop into anything, but her gut feeling was warning her that something was going to happen. "Thanks for helping me," she told Kate. Getting a 'thank you' from Natalya was a very rare thing indeed.

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Serena began to get dressed as Peter spoke. She agreed to his plan that they work on redundant drives and then back them up every night. It was going to be tedious, but it was going to help protect their work. The only sticky spot was Norman Osborn. She wasn't sure how the man was going to take them removing their work like this when he did have a stake in the project. She agreed that Peter should talk to him.

"So, what can I do to help?"