DISCLAIMER:
Hi there.   I'm not a professional writer or associated with
Marvel Comics in any way.   The following is a work of fan
fiction featuring Storm and Logan of the X-Men.   Also
mentioned are Vic Creed, Kitty Pryde, and Pete Wisdom.   I
make no money from this.   Don't sue me.

Kai is mine.  Use her without permission and I'll hunt you 
down, tie you up, shave your head, and tattoo your scalp with 
bad drawings of unpopular celebrities.  And that's just 
warming up.

The K&Ls are archived at Tag Team, the Kai & Logan subarchive
at Fonts of Wisdom --
http://home.att.net/~lubakmetyk/kailogan.htm

Comments to Kaylee1109@aol.com.   Opinions...tell 'em if ya
got 'em.

Enjoy!

"Kai and Logan:  Hunting"
By Kaylee (Kaylee1109@aol.com)

--Prologue--

Storm was playing with her powers.   Watching a woman who
can toss lightning bolts around play with her powers is a pretty
impressive thing.   Particularly if you're one of those people
who loves little more than to run madly through a tempest and
fling yourself into gusts almost powerful enough to lift you off
your feet.

Or one that _is_ powerful enough.   I felt my feet swept out
from under me, and then I was soaring through the wind and
rain at speeds I didn't even want to _think_ about.   I laughed,
because if I didn't I would scream, and spread my arms out to
feel the hot and cold drafts mingling on either side of me.
Ororo was suddenly there, in front of me, and her normally
serene face had a huge smile just beneath her flashing eyes.   
I answered the smile and shouted something at her; nothing of
any importance, but just a vocal appreciation of the power all
around us.   Her smile turned just a touch wicked.   A warm
pillow of air rose up beneath me to give me less perilous
support.   She drifted over next to me, then raised her arms to
the fury raging just past us...and called the lightning down.   Air
crackled with energy.   The bolts crashed all around us, the
thunder deafening and rapid at this range.   Every nerve in me
was alive and jumping with the sheer, wild excitement of the
storm, and of Storm.   I could see the trembling of her body;
the rarely viewed ecstasy of release on her beautiful face.

It couldn't last long, because Ororo is too responsible to flood
the grounds just for a moment of bliss.   As I watched, she let
the tempest fade.   I could see the regret in the set of her
shoulders and the slight downward curve of her neck, and I
wondered suddenly if she would be happiest somewhere that
she could rage freely with the wildest, strongest elements;
heedless of the burden of control and restraint.

She kept me aloft with an ease that staggered me, and the
warm updraft that held me dried some of the dampness from
my hair and clothes.   I met her cobalt eyes when she turned,
and I was still feeling enough of that exuberance to let it shine
outta my own.   She saw it.   I noticed the thoughtful
expression crease her smooth brow.   Silently, she looked
downwards and pointed.   I craned my neck, blinking against
the air that tried to dry out my eyes, and gazed at what she
pointed at.

Logan was beneath us, nearly hidden in the night.   It looked as
if he'd collapsed to his knees.   His head was thrown back and 
I could see his chest heave from exertion even this far away.
The dark eyes were closed tightly while he came down from
the high of the storm.   I watched him slowly draw his head
forward...rise to his feet.   Without even a look around himself,
he headed off into the trees.   I looked back at 'Ro without
really knowing what we'd just seen, except that he'd been as
affected by the elements as I.

"Logan is one of my dearest friends," 'Roro said quietly.

<Oh no,> I thought with a twinge of resentment at coming back
to human perspective after soaring with a goddess.   <It's the
"friend threat.">   I'd managed to keep from getting that from
the X-Men after Logan and I came back from Canada with
something of a minor change in our relationship:  We went
from being more or less strangers to being bedmates.   Most
assumed it wasn't gonna last.   Hell, _I_ assumed it wasn't
gonna last.   I'm just not the relationship type.   But it _had_
lasted, and it had grown stronger.   By the time we made it
through together after the whole Victor Creed incident, I guess
that he and I had started to take each other's presence as
assured.   So thus far, the only "friend threat" I'd been
subjected to was the one given by a bright-eyed Kitty Pryde on
Muir Island, who informed me in a confiding way that Logan
was giving the exact same lecture to her boyfriend Pete
Wisdom at the same moment.   Now, facing something of the
sort from 'Ro, I steeled myself against my temper and decided
to be as patient as I could while she told me what she would do
to me if I hurt him.

If she followed my train of thought, she gave no sign.   "He
always runs through the tempests I call," she continued, eyes
steady on mine.   "It allows him a chance to release the
wildness he pens up inside.   He calls it 'the animal,' and he
hides it from the others as well as he's able."   Despite my
reservations, I started to listen to her then.   "Me, he allows to
see it, because..."   She gestured to the now-calm air around us,
referring to the storm.   I nodded understanding.   Ororo has
her own share of 'the animal.'  "But he locks it away in shame
from the others, burying it until it cries out for release."  I'd
always taken her eloquence as a brand of high-handed
snobbery.  Just then, it didn't seem that way at all.  "He will
hide it from you, if you let him.  He fears what you will think
when you see that part of him.  He fears you will be horrified."
Now her eyes sharpened just a little, showing a hint of the steel
beneath the elegant face.  "I saw in you, tonight, a piece of
what I see in him.  Now tell me honestly, Kai...when you see
the wild side of the man, will you turn away from him?"

It took no thought at all to answer.  "No," I told her simply,
letting the surety I felt come through in my tone.

She searched my face for deception, but of course I gave her
none.  Abruptly a newly considering expression came into her
eyes.  "Do you love him?"

My heart stopped.  I couldn't..._couldn't_ answer her.  I've
never been one for introspection or examining my feelings,
and in the past I've rapidly cut away almost everyone who got
too close to me.  Only one person other than Logan ever
affected me on such a deep level, though in a different way,
and he was dead without me ever having found the courage to
tell him how I felt.  Too long spent as a slave...too much time
put in to making myself as strong and independent as I
possibly could upon my freedom.  I know little of how to deal
with emotions like these...and to _think_ of them?  It scares me
in a big way.

So I just stared at her silently, trying to keep the panic outta
my eyes and not understanding in the least why she took in the
expression and suddenly smiled with a look that seemed to
know more than I did.  "As I thought," she said softly.  I didn't
ask her _what_ was as she thought.  She shook her head
slightly in something like amusement.  "I must lock these
things away or risk leveling forests," she murmured, as if to
herself, "and you, I think, fear leveling yourself."  I refused to
even try to comprehend what she meant...it touched too close
on that frightening core of feelings.  When she fixed her gaze
on me this time, there was a hint of softness to it that I don't
often see from her.

"I suggest, Kai, that you find a way to show him that you don't
fear the animal side of his nature.  Let him see your own share
of it.  It will mean more to him than I can say."  She started
drifting me towards the ground.  I stared up at her, letting my
mind pick over those last words while I tried not to think of the
ones before.  She kept that strange little smile on her face until
my feet touched down on the ground, and then she gave me a
slight parting nod before soaring up higher into the clouds.

"Well, that wasn't a 'friend threat,'" I mused, gazing after her
until she became nothing but a darker dot against moon-lit
clouds.  "But I'm not quite sure what exactly it _was._"

Mind churning, I headed back towards the mansion for sleep
that my distracted thoughts wouldn't allow to descend.

--end prologue--

***

The little cabin nestled in a jut of rock high in the Canadian
mountains.  Inside, Logan dropped his pack to the plain
wooden table with a thump.

"Hows about breakin' out some food?  That hike worked up an
appetite."

Kai grinned at him and finally unshouldered her own pack,
tossing it lightly in the air.  "Blankets and extra clothes," she
told him.  "You know how I am about cold."

He blinked at her, not quite sure he'd heard right.  "Ya mean
you didn't bring any food?"

"Nope."

A quick glance at his own pack didn't magic up anything
edible.  "I didn't bring any food, either."

Her shoulders bunched in a casual shrug.  "No biggie.  We
hunt."

"Don't see no rifle in your things."

"That's 'cause I didn't bring one."  Another quick grin.  "Come
on...if people like us can't scare up some meat for dinner in the
middle of a rich wilderness, something's really wrong with the
world."

Logan shifted his feet uncomfortably.  In the time since he'd
been with Kai -- truly been with her, not just sleeping with her --
he'd kept the animal side of his nature subdued in her presence.
He thought that the image of him racing through the woods,
eyes wild and teeth bared in the ecstasy of the hunt, wasn't
something she needed or wanted to see.

"And just how were you plannin' on doin' that?" he asked.
"Seein' as we didn't bring any traps.  Ya wanna make snares or
somethin'?"

The look she gave him was faintly annoyed.  Fists planted
solidly on her hips, she faced him with an irritated glare.

"Why bother with snares?  Or traps, for that matter?  There's
no reason we can't hunt by hand."

He scowled, finally voicing what was bothering him.  "You're
askin' me to let the animal out.  That ain't something I can
rightly see doin'.  Not..."  He was going to say, 'Not with you
watching.'  He didn't want to ever see her eyes darken with
disgust as she took in the beast he struggled against.  Not her.

But he couldn't really tell her that, could he?

Her glare eased a bit, and the look she gave him was suddenly
thoughtful.  A quick glance out the still-open door showed the
luminescent gloom of twilight.  Decision firmed her tone.

"Come with me."

"What?"

"Come with me."  She stalked out the door without looking to
see if he followed.

Of course he did.  Even after a long day of hiking, she had
plenty of energy.  <'Course, she was only carrying blankets
and clothes,> he grumbled mentally.  They walked a few
hundred yards through the trees, until the cabin was hidden
and the dusk of the Canadian night enfolded them.  Then the
trees thinned a bit near the edge of a sharp drop-off down into
a valley below.  He stopped as she did, eyes taking in the
panoramic view of glorious peeks jutting skyward, lit by the
brightness of stars undimmed from city lights.

"Sit," Kai ordered, indicating the slight grassy slope that led to
the precipice.  He smiled a little at her tone, but did as she
asked without comment.  She dropped down behind him and
straddled her legs on each side of his, looping her arms
casually over his shoulders and leaning against him.

"What're we--"

"Shhh."  She propped her chin beside his neck and stared out
over the wilderness with a small sigh.  "Just...listen."

He listened.  Wind-rustled leaves hissed.  Somewhere, a
pinecone dropped, though it was early in the season for that.  It
thumped against mulchy ground, then rested.

"Kai," he started.  She put her mouth close to his ear and
breathed the word again.

"_Listen._"

He listened.  And slowly, he started to hear it.

First the sound of his own heartbeat, as familiar as his scent.
Thudding its reassuring, strong rhythm...pulsing blood through
arteries and veins.

_Listen._

Her heart, steady...somehow powerful.  A split second faster
than his with her smaller frame, yet somehow sounding a
beating counterpart to his own.

_Listen._

Lungs accepted the gift of air...gave it up again.  Her breath
stirred near his ear, bringing a chill and deep warmth at once.
Skin sliding against cloth over his shoulders.  The catch of a
callused palm on fabric.

_Listen._

An owl cried, not far away.  Its shriek froze some small
creature in its tracks, and then its claws closed on flesh, on
meat, on life.

Nocturnal mammals tapped tiny rhythms with their feet as they
raced from shelter to shelter.  He could almost feel their
pounding heartbeats at every additional moment of survival.

A distant rumble of thunder touched his blood and caught on
something in his chest.  His eyes sought the source.  Caught a
bright flash of lightning, then felt again the growl in the sky.

His heartbeat had quickened when he wasn't looking.  Sudden
energy made it hard to stay still, to stay relaxed.

"Kai..."

Her voice sounded rougher than usual.  "Breathe it in, Logan.
Take it all in."

But that was dangerous to do.  Every breath brought the
flavors of life, of death, of survival to him.  Here, in the wilds
he'd claimed as his own, the animal wanted rein to be free.
Her scent reached into his brain, touching at something deep
and primal, calling to that which he struggled to keep caged.

Somewhere, a wolf howled.  Its lonely cry thrummed through
him painfully.  He wanted to answer, to let the creature know
that it wasn't alone, that another of its kind was here inside the
body of a man.

*The heat of the chase...the rich, warm blood of the kill
filling his mouth, satisfying a need...*

The russet eyes that would widen in horror at the beast of a
man...

"Logan," she whispered.  "If there's a part of you that you 
want to keep separate from me because it's personal, keep it as 
you wish.  But don't hide an essential part of yourself because
you're ashamed...because you think I won't understand."  It
was the first time he'd heard her use words to convey a deeper
meaning like this.  Always before in the time he'd known her, 
she spoken plainly, bluntly; never bothering to try to use 
language as anything other than direct meaning.  With these 
words she invited him to open up, as much as he was willing.

She told him that it was all right.

Anticipation pumped softly, insistently through him.  He heard
something in her chest rise to meet it.

Logan gathered feet under him and stood, offering her his
hand.  She rose, holding his gaze the whole while, and kept her
hand in his.

"I'm hungry," he told her softly.  "Will you hunt with me?"

Something shined out of her eyes, calling to the wildness in his
own.  "I thought you'd never ask," she murmured.

They slipped through the trees as silently as any predators.
She moved well, a distracted part of his mind noticed.  Not as
quietly as he, but close.  Sometimes shoulder to shoulder,
sometimes one behind the other, they cast out over the
mountain top, every sense alert.  On one level he was
painfully aware of her presence...aware that she was near 
when he would rend and tear his prey like any animal.  On 
another, deeper level, he felt her as his balance, his equal, his
mate...who ran at his side with the spirit of a wild thing and the
need of a creature to feed.

And more.  In a strange dichotomy of vision, the woman who
raced beside him and gloried in the pure freedom of it was at
once russet-haired, tanned-skinned...and also coppery-hued,
with raven-dark locks trailing behind her.  <Silver Fox?> he 
wondered distantly.  But no...he and Silver Fox had never 
shared this.  She'd been fresh, vibrant life, yes...but even then, 
he'd kept _this_ separate.  No...Kai was calling to a time and 
people past, when the savagery of the natural law was an 
accepted, a _cherished_ part of life.  The veneer of civilization 
stripped away, the strength of spirit bared...she was the human 
who was an animal, even as he was the animal who was a 
human.

They saw her and scented her at the same time.  A big she-
boar, wiry hair standing out from her thick body.  She was an
old one, canny in the ways of survival.  As she rooted, she
frequently stopped and checked her surroundings with all of
her senses; from her puny sight to her keen smell to her
sensitive hearing.  Scars layered her from countless attacks,
but always she had been the stronger.

Until now.  Without a word to each other they split and
bracketed her.  She started to figure out that something was
wrong just as they began their silent rush.  Claws sprang from
the backs of Logan's hands.  A knife gleamed in Kai's.  The
boar squealed and charged the nearest target; Logan.  A 
savage growl sounded from his chest in response.

And then she was seeking to tear, even as he fought to rip into
her living meat.  Her strength, her speed, were remarkable.
His no less so.  She gouged flesh and drew blood while he
sought something vital with his slashing claws.

And then Kai was there, darting in to strike.  They worked
together as if the moves had been choreographed, somehow 
avoiding in the thrashing, twisting battle doing harm to each 
other.  He caught a glimpse of her face, and saw an echo of the 
gut-deep need he felt in the drawn back lips and bared teeth.

It was over suddenly.  The boar lay torn on the ground,
bleeding from death wounds.  Without thinking, he slashed
down with his claws and carved warm, bloody meat from
bone.  Hunger hollowed his stomach and filled his mind as he
tore a bite of crimson flesh into his mouth.

Some last vestige of reservation stopped him, and he stared at
Kai with blood on his face and hands, suddenly sure he'd find 
the horror and disgust at last in her eyes.

But she only took the bloody meat from his hands and bit into
it with the still savage, ancient need to feed after the hunt.

They didn't speak.  They fed from their kill until they were
full, and then they followed the whisper of a stream and drank
the cool water down into stomachs taut with food.  The blood-
lust eased with the hunger.  Logan felt almost as if he was
coming down from a high, but that animal base didn't recede
all the way inside of him again.  As the approaching storm
drummed louder he was aware of another need, fully as animal
and as human as the first.  She raised her head as his hands
touched her, and there was still enough of that connection, that
wild oneness of purpose, that she responded without a word
and with full, passionate intensity.  Their lovemaking was as
fierce and alive as the hunt had been, as the kill had been.  As
the heat grew, the storm broke overhead and doused them with
a powerful torrent that did nothing to diminish their desire.
Lightning cracked, and thunder drowned out their cries as they
clutched one another, shaking, in the aftermath.

They lay together by the stream as the pounding rain cleansed
them.  It eased gradually and they sprawled loosely, arms and 
legs intertwined, letting the wildness fade with the passing 
storm.

But only fade.  Not vanish entirely.

"I'm glad you shared that with me," she said eventually, staring
up at stars that pierced the thinning clouds.

"I thought it...I...would disgust you, once you saw."

"A part of...maybe the core of who you are," she mused,
snuggling closer into his arm.  "Did you feel it?  Like
something deeper and more lasting than anything human will
ever be?"

He chuckled throatily.  "Ain't you eloquent all o' the sudden."
But then the smile faded as he let himself feel a trace of what
her words touched on.  "I felt it.  Strip away civilization...give
a body a need to survive...and ya call up somethin' real
powerful."

"You know what I think sometimes?  I wonder if humans are
making themselves a new kind of creature.  One that can't find
the instincts to survive this way."  Her voice was distant.
Haunted.  "I'm glad to know that I still have that inside of me 
to call on when I need it."

He caught a breath and held it, hearing her words; feeling 
them touch on some forgotten inner level that felt strangely 
raw and empty and unused.  "You mean that?"

Amusement warred with seriousness in her voice.  "I wouldn't 
have said it if I didn't."

He closed his eyes and started his lungs working again, tasting
the wild herbal scent of her.  He didn't have words to tell her
what he was thinking.  Logan was a man who preferred to let
actions speak for him.  Instead of trying to fumble his way
through an explanation she didn't need, he rolled to his side
and looked into her eyes, finding something vital staring back
at him.  He kissed her slowly, this time letting contained
strength take the place of their earlier savage passion.  She met
him, matched him, reaffirming their humanity with gentle,
patient power.

A last echo of thunder faded into the air.  The lonely wolf
keened again to the night sky.

This time a howl rose up through the darkness to answer him.

--end--