As the evening wore on, Logan had forced himself out of his room at the pain of hunger in his stomach. He hadn’t eaten for several days and his harsh travelling as Wolverine had taken it out of him. At one point, Jean had dropped by his room, quickly summarising that he needed to get some sleep before he collapsed. But with or without her medical backup, he had ignored her suggestion. Now, he was sullenly traipsing down one of the mansion’s many corridors, his hands shoved into his tight jean pockets – the outfit his spare change of clothing which had been brought back from the hotel. He sighed to himself as he moved along, his eyes on the floor. It had been a terrible day, and he was sure it wasn’t about to get any better anytime soon.
He raised his head, his eyes locating Rogue’s closed bedroom door further ahead. His frown quickly deepened and he roughly shook his head to himself, needing to swallow to soothe his burning throat. He picked up his pace to pass her room quickly, all the while hating himself more and more. He had only passed it by a few feet when he heard footsteps behind him.
He quickly stopped, looking over his shoulder to see Storm walking towards him. Perhaps somehow he had hoped to see Rogue, even though he was trying to keep them apart. However, he reluctantly turned to face Storm, though his eyes remained on the floor. His withdrawn, shameful nature certainly not one that suited him. “You’re going to have to look harder than that,” said Storm quietly, tipping her head in indication to Rogue’s bedroom door besides her.
“What?” asked Logan hoarsely. He raised his tired eyes upon her face hesitantly.
Pursing her lips, Storm leaned towards the closed door, her hand taking the doorknob and promptly pushing it open. She released it to let the door swing open, and stepped back to give Logan room. He moved closer to the open doorway hesitantly, peering inside to see the room empty of her possessions, including her kit bag. “Oh, no,” he groaned softly as he retreated from her room. He slumped back on the wall of the corridor, a hand over his eyes.
“She’s been missing for a few hours,” Storm told him softly. “Charles has been tracking her with Cerebro and trying to get hold of her, but she’s not responding.” She folded her arms gently as she stepped closer to him, “Did Rogue come and see you earlier?”
“What’s that got to do with it?” he asked quietly.
“Did she?”
“Yes..” relented Logan with a sigh.
Storm closed her eyes at this, shaking her head a little. “It was too soon.”
“She’s scared of me, ‘Ro,” he muttered softly, his head bowing dejectedly. “She came in my room, and she was terrified to even look at me.”
“What did you say?”
Logan shook has head morosely to himself, “I told her to get out.”
At this, Storm’s eyebrows shot up, “What?”
“She can’t be around me, Ororo! I’m too dangerous!” His eyes closed as another sigh breathed from his nose. “I was trying to push her away.. for her own good.”
“Well, it worked too well,” said Storm, looking displeased. “She’s left the mansion and is probably walking straight into danger. Or did you forget Magneto was still after her?”
Logan quickly looked at her, “He hasn’t.. ?”
“Oh, he will if we don’t find her quickly!” Storm took Logan by the lower arm, pulling him through the corridor. “You’re coming with us.”
Logan followed, but not without arguing, “She won’t want me there.”
“Logan..” Storm paused in her walk and looked round at him. “I’m don’t think this is going to be a search party. This is going to be a rescue mission.”
With a sigh, Logan closed his eyes, fully aware that it was his fault that Rogue had took off. Just when he thought he couldn’t feel any worse, the extra helping of guilt weighed him down. It was too much. Too much was going wrong. It was overkill.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tired and miserable, Rogue slumped down on a park bench, dumping her kit bag at her feet. If she was to be apart from Logan, then it had to be completely apart, because she didn’t think she’d be able to handle bumping into him in corridors of the mansion. Of course, her plan had been formulated amidst angry tears and bitter cursing, and now, sat out in the darkness of the evening she wondered if she had done the right thing. What did she hope to do now? Wait until another hitchhiker gave her a chance? Keep running, even when she had no idea what she was running from?
Charles had been trying to contact her both mentally and on the mobile phone she had forgotten about in her coat pocket. She ignored all attempts with a stubborn nature. She didn’t want to speak to any of them. Not yet.
Rogue groaned quietly as she hunched forth, her folded arms pressing into her knees. It was lonely and cold, and the fact it was Logan who had pushed her away made her feel all the more upset. True, she had been a fearful of him when she went to see him, but what did he expect? It would have taken a while for her to be fully satisfied that it was no longer Wolverine, and she would feel safe once more.
She wondered if Charles had told him that she had gone yet, and if he felt bad about it. She frowned to herself at this. Surely he’d feel terrible, but he told her to get out, and she did. But he also wanted her to be safe. She sighed, rubbing her forehead tiredly, aware that sitting out on a park bench in New York at eight o’clock at night did not constitute as safe. Even though she was continuously going over her thoughts, she didn’t miss the shadow that came over her, blocking out the light of the streetlamp across the path. She slowly looked up, only seeing the glint of solid black eyes before a growl sounded as she was smacked across the head and sent into blackness.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reluctantly, Logan had dressed himself in the uniform Scott had presented to him. He was in no mood to argue, and inside was deeply thankful that the X-Men had stopped him last night before he had done anything worse. That was his reasoning for accepting their plan of action without the contempt he may have usually held. He hadn’t spoken a word as he buckled himself in on the X-Jet and proceeded to fly out with the rest of the X-Men to the location Charles told them Rogue had stopped at.
“We’re here,” Storm called as the jet descended upon the park quietly. They landed the aircraft on the open space lawns swiftly, the ramp lowering to grant them access out. Even though Logan’s behaviour had been subdued on the flight there, he was the first out of the jet, hurrying down the steps. The X-Men quickly followed him out, the team sprinting across the grass, which rippled below like a black sea. A cool wind passed them as they hurried along through the darkness. Tall lamps lit the winding pathway ahead, indicating lonely benches dotted along the way. Logan ran forth, his eyes scanning the area desperately whilst his nose fought to find her scent.
He made a quiet gasp as his eyes caught a shape on the floor up ahead. He sprinted towards it, collapsing on his knees with a pained cry. The X-Men were quickly behind him; cautiously peering over to see him knelt before her kit bag. Rogue was nowhere to be seen. “She was sat here,” he told them as he stared at the green painted bench besides them. He sniffed again, frowning as he shook his head, “Sabretooth,” he informed them weakly.
The X-Men shared glance between them before Scott spoke, “Come on, back to the jet,” the X-Men turned as one, running across the grass as they returned to their aircraft. Logan stood with the bag in his arms, belatedly following them as he clutched it tightly to his chest. Inside the aircraft, the X-Men had resumed their positions, and when Logan entered Storm was communicating with Charles over the transceiver.
“She’s not here, Professor. We found her bag. Logan says Sabretooth had been there.”
“I’ll check with Cerebro,” came Charles’ response. There was a pause in which the X-Men shared anxious expressions. Logan slumped back in his seat, staring down at the bag he held with such despair. “She’s at Magneto’s base. Get there quickly.”
“We’re on our way,” Storm replied, the jet then swiftly starting up and ascending into the evening skies.
Jean glanced across at Logan, her eyes studying his forlorn posture. “Logan,” she said gently to get his attention.
His eyes slowly glanced her way, “What?” he grunted.
“We’ll find her.”
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000