Kindred Souls
 
 _Kindred Souls_
 
By Gambit
 
 
 
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_Chapter Two_
 
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Jesse was in hell, or she thought that the nightmare that she was
living through was hell. It had everything in it, all the way down to
the scientists grafting the metal to her bones. And oh, the pain. That
was the worst part. She remembered that she wish she could pass out
from it, or die. Either of those two would have been more acceptable
than *this.*
 
 
 
Jesse sat straight up in bed and looked at the seedy motel room. For
the first time, she could really *see *it and *smell* it. The smell was
the worst. The place obviously didn’t  a decent maid service. She
couldn’t believe that she didn’t notice any of the smells that were in
the room the night before. *Logan said that my senses were going to
kick in today. *She thought, slipping out of bed.
 
 
 
The girl looked over at Logan as he slept. It looked like it was a
fitful sleep. Then she gave a casual glance at the clock. It was four
thirty in the morning. *A long hot shower, then after that, if Logan
ain’t acting any better, I’m waking him up.*
 
* *
 
She began looking through her bags as quietly as possible. She didn’t
know just how quiet it was. It took very little to wake up Wolverine,
and she was pulling it off fairly easily. The thing that Jesse noticed
the most was the fact that, when she walked, it felt like her feet were
on air, the only reason she knew that they weren’t was because she saw
them firmly planted on the ground. With a puzzled face, she walked into
bathroom of their room, holding up a hand at the glare of the light.
*Definitely going to be getting some shades. *She thought, a low growl
in the back of her throat.
 
 
 
The growl startled her. *Logan warned me ‘bout that. I think I can get
through this. Logan said that he would help me. *She thought.
 
 
 
She undressed in front of the mirror and gave a slight gasp. Her body .
. . Her body was almost completely different. It still looked like a
human body, but it was covered with sinewy muscles that made her look
like she had been in aerobics since she was four. And the fact was that
she had never worked out once in her entire life wasn‘t helping her
thoughts any. The muscles looked feminine, but they held no doubt that
she was stronger. *Gonna have to test out my strengths later . . . And
a beer, Canadian if possible. *She thought as she got into the shower
stall.
 
 
 
She stopped dead in her tracks before she got into the shower at that
last thought. *I don’t even like beer. What the hell is going on? *Was
her thought as she turned the water on as she got into the shower and
let it wash over her body. She readily admitted that she felt better on
this morning than she had in her entire life. *If I could only quit
worrying .  .  . *Her thoughts trailed.
 
 
 
She remembered being caught by the scientists that had done all those
painful things to her. She was what the people in the neighborhood
called a street-brat. A local thief that was very lucky and exceptional
in her gifts. One of her friends said that she could steal a Cross off
a Nun’s neck and the lady would never notice it. Not that she  would do
that, though.
 
 
 
Jesse’s main targets were people that she thought had too much money
for there own good. She never could still from the poor, that would
always make her feel guilty. *I guess I’m going to leave all that
behind if I go with Logan.*
 
* *
 
Logon, she really couldn’t understand the man. It was almost as if he
had two personalities. The Wolverine and Logan. She liked Logan the
best, but she saw the need to have Wolverine close by. 

 
 
Jesse knew what he meant when he was talking about the berserker rage.
She could feel it, lurking in her mind, waiting for a situation that
would cut it loose. The anger, suspicion. It was almost as if she
didn’t trust anyone, save Logan. She was questioning all of her gang
friends that were on the street.
 
 
 
A new start. That was exactly what she needed.  And Logan could give
that to her. And it wasn’t exactly like she didn’t like him. After all,
him and her had been through almost the exact same thing. She felt a
kinship with him that she had never felt with anyone else. And that
suited her just fine.
 
 
 
And she was positive that Logan felt the same way about her. The reason
she was so positive was for the fact that she was an Empath. She could
feel his emotions. He cared for her as much as she cared for him. And
that was deeply. What puzzled her the most was how two people could
trust one another so easily in such a short amount of time.
 
 
 
Jesse knew that Logan hated secrets, so she was planning on telling him
that she was an Empath as soon as she got a chance on this day.
 
 
 
Jesse let the water splash over her until she started to feel it get
cold and then she slipped out. Grabbing a towel, the girl dried off her
well built, sinewy body. Her stomach growled loudly as she did this. It
seemed that she kept getting hungrier and hungrier since she had left
from being those bastards’ lab-rats.
 
 
 
She put on a black pair of Wranglers and tucked a pure black t-shirt
into them. Then she threw on a Faded Glory shirt that was about three
sizes too big. She didn’t bother buttoning that all the way up, she
only buttoned the three at the bottom, and rolled the sleeves up mid
forearm. She slid on her black cowgirl boots and she was out of the
bathroom.
 
 
 
As she exited the bathroom, the one thing that she felt came to her. It
was described with one word: Wired. She felt like she could run a
marathon. Everything that she looked at, smelled or sensed, all seemed
to have a new quality now. And to top it off, her protectiveness of
Logan had seemed to triple over night.
 
 
 
She looked over at her friend, he looked like he was sleeping
peacefully, so she let him be. The growling in her stomach persisted,
though. She went over to the stuff she bought and pulled out one of her
pens and a piece of paper, deciding to leave Logan a note, telling him
where she would be and told him that she borrowed a twenty from his
wallet.
 
 
 
Jesse never felt so restless in her life, so she didn’t even consider
taking the truck or bike. She wanted to walk the energy off, it was
just as simple as that. She was glad that the Diner opened at 5:00 AM,
though.
 
 
 
“Goin’ somewhere, Kid.” A growly, if not sleepy voice, made her jump
just a little. It was hardly noticeable to anyone else. Well, maybe
Logan noticed.
 
 
 
“Yeah, my stomach beginning to thing that my throat’s been cut,” She
replied with mishief. “I was gonna head down to the diner and get
something to eat.”
 
 
 
“Give me five and I’ll go with ya . . . Need some caffeine.” He replied
as he got out of the bed and headed for the bathroom.
 
 
 
It took Logan a total of about four minutes to get ready. “After we
eat, I was planning on heading back to Westchester today. That all
right with you?” He watched as the girl nodded. *Something’s different
about her today. She looks . . . Stronger. *He thought as he gave her a
once over.
 
 
 
“Will you do me a favor, Kid?” He asked, still looking her over.
 
 
 
“Yeah?”
 
 
 
“I want you to punch me in the shoulder as hard as you can.”
 
 
 
Jesse let out a growl that was so fierce that it even surprised her. “I
ain’t gonna hit ya, Logan.” She ground out, teeth clenched.
 
 
 
“I’ll heal quicker than ya can say “Healing Factor”, Kid. I don’t get
hurt that easily. A punch to the shoulder isn’t going to hurt that
much. Besides, this is part of yer trainin’, and you already promised
you’d do whatever I asked. Now I’m asking you to hit me in the damn
shoulder.” He told the blue eyed girl, and there was an edge to his
voice. “Don’t hold back either.
 
 
 
Jesse’s shoulders slumped in resignation. But then she drew back,
waited until Logan said that he was read, and nailed him the shoulder
as hard as she could. It actually made the older man go back a few
steps, which surprised her.
 
 
 
“Just what I thought, kid. You have the strength of about two or three
grown men . . . Though, you still ain’t a match for this one.” He added
cockily.
 
 
 
“Yeah, yeah. Can we get something to eat now, O’ Great One?” She
replied cheekily.
 
 
 
 
 
                    *******************************************
 
 
 
 
 
_7:15 PM_
 
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“Ah man, you didn’t tell me it was a school Logan.” Jesse exclaimed
with an almost whine. “I hate school, that was part of the reason I
stayed *far, far *away from foster care.” 

 
 
“Mmm. Look where that got ya, Kid.” Logan replied with stone cold Logic
that wenyt perfectly with  the smirk on his face. “’Sides, it ain’t an
ordinary school.” He added. They were only about an hour away from the
school. *And Marie . . . *Logan’s thought’s added.