YOU'RE LOSING ME ✦ WOLVERINE

CHAPTER TEN

CLARA, QUITE LITERALLY, decided to let her hair down for the night.

Logan hadn't seen her with her down since the first night they met, he realized. She'd always had it back in a ponytail, or braided down her back. When she had walked out into the living room from her guest bedroom, in a yellow tank top, jeans, and her hair down, he'd felt a blood rush. Thank god he was sitting down.

They were sitting in their usual stools, having finished dinner an hour before, and had been drinking ever since. "I'm making it a goal for us to get smashed tonight," Logan said to Clara when they had walked into the bar. Jerry had just laughed.

He had some recording of a football game on, one from a couple years before. Even Jerry was drinking with them a bit, something he didn't usually do. As usual, there was no one else in the bar at this hour.

"You think you can actually get me drunk?" Clara leaned into Logan as she asked, their shoulders rubbing.

"Well, I'd certainly like to try," He replied, smiling over at her. She grinned back, giggling. She was at least tipsy right now, and feeling a nice buzz.

"You may be a little late to your drunk 21st birthday night, but better late than never, eh Clara?" Jerry said, and she laughed, taking a drink off her margarita.

Logan looked between the two of them slyly. Jerry knew how old she really was. She had told him...Why?

"You know, Jer," Clara lifted her cup in a cheers. "It's an honor to get smashed for the first time in your bar."

"I can drink to that!" Jerry exclaimed, hitting his glass of beer against her cup. Logan joined in, and then said, "Why is it exactly that you've never gotten drunk before, Clare?"

Clara took a drink off her margarita, and then set her glass down. "Well," She started. "I became a mother really young. I was pregnant when I turned twenty-one, in fact. And then most of my time was dedicated to taking care of him, until HYDRA—"

She stopped suddenly, and had a stricken look on her face. She rushed to take another drink, avoiding Logan's gaze.

"What did you do to attract HYDRA's attention, Clara...?" Logan asked slowly, setting his glass down on the counter.

She finally looked over at him, and even Jerry had fallen silent, watching them. "You want to know why?" She asked. "Are you...Are you sure?"

"Does it explain the reason why you have so many locks in your apartment?" Logan asked, and she nodded. "Okay. I'll take a chance. Tell me why."

"Jerry, get me something strong," Clara said, setting her margarita aside. "I'm saving the rest of my margarita as a prize for getting through this."

Jerry poured out a couple of shots of vodka, and set the four glasses in front of her. "Take them one by one," He said, "as you tell your story."

He had heard a little bit of it when she had first moved here. When they revealed themselves to be mutants to each other.

She took the first shot, grimacing as she swallowed. "Ugh!" She shook her head. "Okay. Here we go." She took calming breaths, avoiding Logan's gaze. "When I was seventeen, the winter soldier tried to assassinate me. I barely survived that night."

Logan's blood ran cold. He had heard of the winter soldier, but not all that much. But the fact he had tried to kill a teenage girl...

"He showed up again two years again, in my apartment one night. Offered me a job, and like a stupid, dumb nineteen year old, I took it. My dad had tortured me as a teenager. I didn't know what kind of path in life I wanted to lead. I went out mostly at night, when there weren't many people out. I was...Very isolated."