Very Much Alive

talking about, so as far as he was concerned it was all good. The two of them had chattered like happy little techno-geeks the entire ride over while Logan amused himself by shooting imaginary bullets at every pigeon, blackbird and crow he could see.

Kir glanced back at Logan with a frown. “Are you sure this is going to work?'

Logan rolled his eyes. Kir was such a worrier sometimes. It drove him nuts. Kir and Jordan might have the technology down pat, but when it came to the magic part ... that was the part where Logan shined.

Kir should know better than to worry about that part.

'Yes,” Jordan answered, confidence seeping from every pore as she stepped aside. Logan pushed her seat forward so he could get out of the Cracker-Jack box Kir called a car. “Follow me, boys.'

'With pleasure,” he purred.

She looked over her shoulder and rolled her eyes at him, but he could still see the uncertainty in her.

He noticed Kir's attention was also focused on Jordan's ass and stifled a smile. Since they'd decided to claim the luscious Jordan for their own neither one had kept their interest to themselves. Jordan was acting a little confused by all of the attention. She'd better get used to it. She was going to be on the receiving end of a lot of attention, if they had their way.

The thought of Kir, Jordan, chocolate sauce and tongue baths was probably what kept him from noticing the large blue sedan that pulled up alongside them.

Jordan bellowed “Down!” as she pushed him hard enough to knock him on his ass. It was his first clue that something was seriously wrong. A sound like a firecracker pierced the afternoon air. Jordan grunted in pain, and Logan literally saw red.

Kir landed on top of him, sandwiching Jordan between them. The blue sedan sped off, pedestrians shrieking and diving for cover. Kir rolled off him and immediately took Jordan into his arms. Logan stood, ready to chase down the blue sedan and have a little “chat” with the driver.

'Jordan!'

Something in Kir's deepened, panicked voice stopped him from chasing down the blue sedan. He looked at the woman cradled in Kir's arms, and his heart stopped. He knelt down beside Kir, instinctively placing himself between them and the street.

She'd been shot. Blood seeped from a wound in her right shoulder. Her eyes were glazed in pain as she looked up at him. Her features were determined as she grabbed a hold of Logan's shirt and pulled him close, hissing through clenched teeth, “He was aiming for you .” Her eyes went to Kir. “Get him the fuck outta here.'

And Logan slipped from being a little bit in love to being all the way. No one, no one , had ever taken pain meant for him. No one had ever gotten in between him and danger. No one had ever tried to protect him, or bled for him. No one had cared enough.

No one but Kir.

He saw the look on Kir's face, knew Kir felt the same damn way. That overprotective streak of Kir's was now fully engaged at the sight of the woman they'd claimed bleeding on the sidewalk. Kir was beyond furious as he cradled her to him, wincing in sympathy as she hissed.

An enraged Kir was a scary thing.

Kir stood, growling as Jordan gasped in pain, and ran for the car. He put her in the backseat, cursing the

tiny sports car, while Logan dug in Kir's pocket for his keys.

'Jefferson's closest.” Kir's voice had deepened. The pupils of his eyes turned white, storm clouds beginning to edge out the sunny blue. Logan reached into the glove compartment and handed Kir his mirrored shades, hiding his inhuman eyes from sight, then pulled on his own shades. Thunder sounded as grey clouds rapidly began to roll in over the city.

'Right.” He waited long enough for Kir to close the passenger side door before taking off like a bat out of hell for Jefferson University Hospital.

They pulled up outside the emergency room entrance just as the rain started. Kir ran inside and managed to get a gurney for Jordan. It had taken a slight shift in the paperwork to get her seen first, but at this point he'd have been willing to blow on trumpets until she got taken care of, let alone a measly flexing of his powers. She was taken in, immediately assessed and moved straight into a curtained-off area, where a physician began prepping her for surgery.

'Excuse me; is either of you gentlemen related to the victim?'

Logan took his gaze off the curtains where Jordan was being prepped to look down at the nurse standing next to him. Her grey-streaked, no-nonsense bun was twisted, her brown eyes sympathetic as she clutched a clipboard to her chest.

'She's my wife.'

He felt Kir start as the words slipped out of his mouth. He flexed his powers again to adjust all of Jordan's paperwork from Grey to Saeter . It wasn't enough to change her insurance and license; he'd changed all of her legal paperwork. The larger change took less energy and concentration. While he was at it he filed a marriage license with the state, just because ... well, because. It soothed the beast inside him that needed to claim her firmly as his.

For a prankster god, it was a piece of cake.

The woman looked relieved. “I need you to sign the surgical release forms, please.'

He signed everything she shoved at him, determined to see to it that his woman got the care she needed.

He looked over at Kir, who was staring at the curtained off area, a fierce frown covering his face. The thunder was louder now; the rain was coming down harder. The street was almost invisible out the window of the surgical waiting room.

Make that our woman. Lightning arced across the sky, confirming his thought.

He stood there, clenching and unclenching his hands as he heard the doctor give the order to have Jordan wheeled to surgery. He was having a hard time controlling the raging fires within him. Someone, some stranger , was going to be cutting into her flesh, removing a bullet meant for him, and it was driving him crazy. The knowledge that he could have lost someone else he loved burned like acid in his gut.

Memory flashed behind his eyes of his sons, Nari and Narfi, one dead by the other's hand. Nari lost to madness for all time as he killed his brother; Narfi's entrails enchanted to hold down a god and used to bind Loki to the mountain.

Strong arms wrapped around him and held tight while inside he raged against the memories, both past

and present.

'How come she gets to be your wife?” Kir grumbled.

Logan felt some of his anger drain away as Kir stroked his back.

'She could be my wife, you know.” He felt Kir grin briefly against his neck, but it didn't fool him. Kir was shaking. The urge to soothe his lover began to overtake the rage and pain inside him. “After all, she likes me better.'

Kir sounded like a petulant child, but Logan knew the truth. Blondie was just as upset, and just as furious, as he was. Logan snorted. Shaking his head, he wrapped his arms around Kir, and settled down to wait for the doctors to return.

Jordan woke to nausea and confusion. She blinked, looking up at the bright white light overhead. “Don't go into the light,” she muttered, surprised when someone snorted next to her. Logan. Her brain immediately identified the sound, like she'd heard it hundreds of times before. Of course, I have damn near heard it a hundred times before.

She turned her head, surprised at how difficult it was. Her stomach rolled with nausea. She swallowed hard, fighting back the urge to hurl all over Logan's expensive leather jacket. He looked pissed as all hell.

“Where's Kir?'

'Right here.” She felt someone take hold of her hand. “Told you she likes me better.” Soft lips brushed her forehead. She turned to see Kir smiling down at her, concern shadowing his eyes. “Hi.'