There was a subdued air the next morning when the pair woke up. Well, Logan woke up, Rogue had been laying awake for the remaining few hours after Logan returned covered in bloodshed. Logan merely strode by her and exited the camper van half-dressed – midway in putting his jacket on. He didn’t even look her way. Rogue watched him walked by with slightly narrowed eyes, and they fixated on him right until the door was closed. He had gone to the front of the van, the bonnet was lifted and he was working beneath it. A short while later he entered the cab at the front of the van, he started the engine before Rogue had even stood up from her makeshift bed.
With an annoyed tut, Rogue quickly hurried through the kitchen area and vaulted over the top of the seating. She landed quite gracefully besides Logan, who had quickly looked round with a surprised stare.
Rogue merely fixated her eyes on his, which showed proof that she had had little sleep the previous night and that worry was clearly clouding her mind. “You’re hiding something from me, Logan,” she said in a quiet voice as she watched him.
But Logan quickly looked round to face the steering wheel again when she brought up the topic, “No I ain’t,” he murmured, “Just fasten your seatbelt and let’s get outta here.”
“No!” Rogue determinedly sat without any motion to fasten the seatbelt. “Somethin’ bad happened last night an’ ya won’t tell me what!”
“Look, I just got into a bit of a scrape.”
“With the person following us?”
“Yes..”
Rogue’s worried face doubled its anxiety, “Who?”
“I didn’t exactly have time for introductions, kid! Forget about it, he won’t be coming back. And anyway,” he slowly looked round at her, “I’m not the only one hiding somethin’.”
It was Rogue’s turn to avert her eyes, “I’m not hidin’ anythin’. Don’t turn things around.” She shifted uncomfortably as she looked up out of the windscreen, “I’ve told you stuff about me.. you’re the one keeping quiet about your past.”
Logan merely answered by giving the engine a few shorts revs. He did not talk nor look her way as the van began to set off. Rogue, who hadn’t been given any forewarning, quickly turned to fasten the seatbelt as they moved off.
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The tense silence from a few days ago returned in a spectacular fashion. The air inside the cab seemed to be a few degrees colder and the silence more deafening than if they had been bellowing at each other. Logan shoved the gear stick with an agitated motion every few minutes whilst his eyes stared out onto the road ahead with a glare heated enough to melt the ice off the windscreen.
Rogue was vaguely wondering what was going to happen next. She found that even after Logan had defended her so bravely, she was starting regretting meeting up with this man. There was something suspicious about him. He didn’t talk about himself and any conversations seemed to end up being about her which was something she wanted to steer clear of. She also wondered if his reason was as severe as hers. What was worse than being a mutant? He could be a murderer or something.. Rogue felt her skin suddenly pimple at the thought and she gave Logan a sideways glance. He had that tough impenetrable look to him like he had something secret heavily locked away inside.
She pulled her eyes off him, not wanting him to catch her gaze. She morosely watched the road ahead, having no idea where they were heading. Logan hadn’t spoken of their next destination. The darkness of the road brightened as they came out of the trees and into a more open area. The shocking white of the distant snow capped peaks shone a luminous glow across the road that was crisp and fresh. The road now meandered against a sloping cliff edge that disappeared into trees at the foot. Rogue sat up slowly, looking at the new glorious view they had been presented with.
But then, several things happened at once in quick succession. The camper van made a sudden jolt that caused Rogue to jerk against her seatbelt with an alarmed cry. There was a terrorising bang outside the car, like something was ramming the metal walls. The van, with momentum from the current driving veered off course so quickly, that neither of them had chance to notice the sudden direction change when suddenly the stunning view flipped upside down. Everything slowed to a frighteningly sluggish pace as the camper rolled onto its side. Rogue could hear herself screaming, but she couldn’t bring herself to stop as suddenly everything zoomed into fast forward mode and the camper tumbled heavily down the cliff side, breaking the barrier that separated the road from the steep bare cliff that led down into wilderness. The world spun before her eyes, the horizon twirling continuously. In fear, she squeezed her eyes shut, and only felt herself being thrown around in the seatbelt, hitting the door and roof of the camper as it banged and rolled down the cliffy hill.
The camper suddenly made another jolt as it crashed against a rock and it tumbled head over heels. With Logan’s foul mood earlier, he had slipped into bad habit by not wearing his seatbelt, and as the camper bonnet hit the rock, Logan tumbled head first through the windscreen. Rogue suddenly opened her eyes, her screams louder as she saw Logan’s shocked and bloodied face as he collapsed through the windscreen and into the snow. The camper completed its somersault until it lost momentum and it crashed its roof down upon him. Rogue suddenly flew forward in her seat as the camper went upside down, and her seatbelt gave up as she toppled out of the top. Her screams fell silent, as she lay slumped against the broken glass that littered the roof, unmoving.
Quiet groans emitted from beneath the camper, which lay on its roof pitifully. The snow around it sat disturbed and strewn with debris that had fallen from the camper in its tumble. Logan lay very still as he opened his eyes. The metal roof of the camper had crushed down upon him. Unsuccessful to squash an adamantium body flat, his body merely left a jagged imprint in the roof of the camper. Logan released another groan as he lay there, feeling many wounds on his body send shockwaves of pain through him. He may be able to heal, but wounds were never the nicest things to receive. He lifted a hand slowly, pressing his fist against the roof in a bid to push out some of the metal so he may move instead of lying pinned under the mould of the carnage. When he could raise his hand vertical, he pressed his knuckle against the metal. His claws ripped free of his skin and instantly penetrated the metal roof without difficulty. He quickly sliced upwards, cutting a hole in which he could climb through. He squeezed on through the jagged hole made; scraping more cuts as he stood up and stumbled into the destroyed camper. He walked uncertainly across the roof, observing in slightly confusion manner that he was stood on the roof of his camper, and the flooring was now a ceiling.
But slowly, the event flipped into fast-forward mode in his head, and with a panicked cry he staggered round, staring at the debris that lay on the floor, his belongings that had fallen from their designated spots and had landed to form an uneven mess along the floored roof. He quickly began to drag items away, his claws disappearing into his hands. “Marie?” He was instantly imagining the worse. He would find her, trapped under mangled items, unresponsive and pale. Dead. “No.. please.. Marie! Marie!” He shoved aside his table that had fallen from its bracket on the wall; it fell to one side carelessly with a loud crunch of items it fell upon. “Marie!”
She lay slumped on her front, her hair strewn across her head, as she lay still and silent. Lifeless arms lay in limp positions either side of her, her fingers relaxed and unclenched, as she remained unresponsive. His bloodied hands grabbed at her shoulders and rolled her round. Her smaller form easily flipped over with his movement and she was moved upon her back. As she was moved she made a quiet noise, her closed eyes squeezed tightly for a moment as she made a weak wince of pain. Her eyes opened into small slits and she peered up at Logan, “..Logan..?”
“Ssh.. I’m here. Can you move?”
Rogue slowly pulled her bloodied legs towards her, giving a shaky breath of relief. However, the hurt tremendously from several gashes across her shins. She daren’t walk on them. She slowly tried to sit up, suddenly crying out and sharply lifted her hand from the floor as she had put pressure on it. “My.. wrist..” she made another gasp of pain, closing her eyes.
“Alright, let’s just get out of this wreckage, “ he slowly scooped his arms below her form, and lifted her with ease. He kicked at the wall of the camper, knocking out the cracked glass of the window and putting on force as he ripped down the wall with a sudden shove of his boot. Rogue would normally had regarded this as unusually strong, but she was so engulfed in shock and pain, she didn’t believe she would ever think clearly again. Logan staggered across the ripped wall, gasping quietly with his horrific injuries. He stumbled across the thick snow, managing to carry her a safe distance away before he fell in the snow on his knees. He managed to place her down gently, but he quickly groaned and held his thigh.
Rogue slowly leant back against the tree she was put at the foot of, feeling rather distant from the entire situation. She felt oddly weak and shivery, like she was recovering from flu. She couldn’t help but gasp however when she saw a sickening trail of crimson in the snow behind Logan. She swiftly looked at him, eyes quick to take on a look of concern, “Logan!” Her eyes met his, and she saw his face cut and bloodied from when the camper crushed down upon him. Crooked wounds wound across his face and slicing across one of his eyes. The eye was slightly bloodied.
“I’m fine,” he murmured quietly, “But your wrist.. where else are you injured?”
“Forget about me!” cried Rogue as she slowly pushed herself up. Sure, she had a good number of cuts on her, but nothing like the bloody pulp that made up Logan’s face.
“Look – “ but he paused and slowly looked round over his shoulder. A frown instantly came upon his face and he pushed himself up with a small grimace. “There’s someone up there..” he growled quietly and clenched his fists, “This was no accident..” and then, there, at the top of the snowy hill stood at the broken barrier was the mutant from before. Sabretooth. The howling snow filled winds blew around him, sending his hair and furs flying in the breeze. Logan briefly looked round at Rogue, “Stay here!”
“Logan!”
But he was running up the steep snowy cliff, using the several rocks and leverage as he began to ascend the hill through the debris and fallen objects from the van. At the top of the cliff, Sabretooth merely smirked before he turned away and disappeared from view. Logan speeded up, reaching the top at a surprisingly fast speed. He dragged himself onto the road, before with an ear splitting roar of anger, he leapt from view.
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