“Can I ask you a question, Mr. Logan?”
Glancing over his shoulder as he nailed a shutter into place on the last dorm, Logan gave a half shrug. “Sure, munchkin.”
“Is there anything that would ever make you hurt Miss Rogue?”
Logan smashed his thumb with the last swing of the hammer. Hard. He winced and watched in numb silence as the bloodied flesh re-knit itself around his split nail. Knowing from experience that the nail would eventually fall off and regrow at a regular human rate, he debated just pulling it off before his thumb finished healing. He was still debating when the last trace of pink faded from his skin, leaving no trace of the wound other than the jagged crack dividing his thumbnail. With a fleeting thought to how many times internal debates had cost him brief windows of opportunity in the past, Logan sighed heavily and turned to face Elizaveta.
“What the hell kind of an idiot question is that?” His tone was mild.
Giving him a mutinous glare, Elizaveta propped her hands on her small hips. “I need to know. I can’t tell you why, but you have to tell me.”
Logan’s eyebrow lifted, the gesture a mixture of challenge and admiration that the girl had the guts to stand up to him. He climbed off the ladder and tossed the hammer aside before standing in front of Elizaveta with his arms crossed over his chest. They stared at each other for several silent seconds before Logan grunted once, deciding to give the girl the same respect he would give an adult asking him the question. “Not that it’s any of your business, but no. I’d never hurt Rogue.”
“What if you didn’t have a choice?”
Logan rocked back on his heels in surprise. “What d’ya mean?”
“What if there was something you had to do, something Miss Rogue wanted you to do, and the only way to do it was to hurt her?” Her voice was insistent.
“Listen, munchkin,” Logan said, jabbing his finger at her for emphasis, “I don’t know what the hell you’re tryin’ to get at, but if somethin’ like that ever happened, it’d be between Rogue and me and nobody else. So give it a rest, okay?”
The girl gave him a hard stare for several seconds, making Logan feel as if he were being carefully appraised by a much older person. Finally, Elizaveta dropped her hands to her sides and cracked a huge smile, crowing, “‘Kay!” She skipped over to him and grabbed one of his big hands in both of hers. “Miss Rogue said to tell you it’s time for lunch.” She tugged him forward a step while she walked backward. “Come on, Mr. Logan, I’m hungry!”
She tripped on a scrap of wood behind her. Logan felt that she was losing her grip on his hand and bent forward to wrap his arm around her small waist. In one motion he straightened and slung Elizaveta over his shoulder like a grain sack and kept walking.
“Wow,” Elizaveta said, subdued. And then she giggled. Liking the sound, Logan jostled her on his shoulder, giving the giggles a choppy, failing motor sound, making the girl laugh harder as they climbed the steps to the cabin.
Inside the kitchen, the children turned and observed Logan and Elizaveta with wide eyes. When he flipped her off his shoulder in an upside down somersault and placed her on her feet, Elizaveta shrieked happily.
Rogue, watching them from beside the table, a large bowl of pasta salad in her hands, smiled gently but didn’t say a word.
* * *
“The help you requested will be arriving this evening after dark.” The professor’s voice was strained and he looked thinner than the last time they had talked to him just days before.
“Via Kurt?” Rogue asked calmly, leaning into Logan’s side.
“Yes.” Xavier rubbed his forehead. “Ah, Rogue, Hank asked me to tell you that he’s still conducting studies on your skin samples.”
“Eww,” Rogue replied mildly. “Aren’t they gettin’ kinda nasty by now? I mean, it’s been weeks.”
“That’s part of why he’s still working on it. The samples that were in direct contact with various organisms are still viable.”
“Thought you said the organisms were all drained. What’s keepin’ the samples uh…alive?” Logan growled, his hesitation over word choice barely breaking the rumbling tone.
“Hank has a theory that the samples are in contact with bacterial growths, but due to the rapid rate of energy absorption on a microscopic scale, he hasn’t been able to actually see any bacterial colonies propagating. He therefore believes the rate of bacterial growth and energy absorption has reached equilibrium. ”
“Huh. Has he tried introducing an antibiotic?” The professor looked at Logan in surprise. “What?” His tone was defensive. “It just makes sense that if it is bacteria, an antibiotic would kill them without harmin’ the skin and then the skin samples would start to degrade.”
“I…why, yes, that does make sense, Logan. I will suggest it to Hank.”
Logan coughed. “Anyway, you sendin’ any kids with Kurt tonight?”
Xavier sighed heavily. “Not at this time. We think that we will avoid suspicion more easily if the entire student body doesn’t disappear too quickly. If the situation escalates or the children’s safety is in any way compromised, Kurt will be ready to bring them to you. I’m afraid that means there probably will not be an opportunity to contact you beforehand.”
“Don’t worry about it, Professor,” Rogue said soothingly. “We understand.”
Seeing the professor’s eyes move to him, Logan shifted uncomfortably. “What she said,” he grunted, making Rogue snort in amusement.
“Don’t let him fool ya, professor. I think he kinda likes havin’ rugrats underfoot.”
Seeing the amusement on Xavier’s face, Logan groused, “Don’t really like it. Just kinda got used to it.”
“Yes, of course,” the professor murmured, his tired eyes suddenly twinkling with suppressed mirth. “One does quickly get used to constantly raised voices, running, bickering, demands for food and entertainment, and being awakened before the sun has even properly risen.”
Rogue snickered and nudged Logan in the ribs. He merely growled in response as Xavier ended the video call.
* * *
They were eating dinner in the kitchen, Logan and Rogue strategically sitting at opposite ends of the table so Logan was in between Michael and Jesse and Rogue was between Trent and Jackson. The kids had somehow paired off and were in constant competition with their respective rivals. That left Max sitting next to Elizaveta, and Logan and Rogue trusted him to keep the girl safe if any of the boys got overzealous and their antics somehow slipped past the adults’ watchful eyes. So far the only problem they had encountered in the past weeks had been Michael setting the tablecloth on fire during a burping contest with Jesse.
“Oh!” Elizaveta exclaimed, dropping her fork onto her plate. “Kurt’s comin’.”
Logan looked at the girl blankly for a moment before realizing that she had just had a vision. “Um…” he glanced at Rogue and then back at Elizaveta. “We need to move the table?”
“Nooo,” Elizaveta tugged on her lower lip with dainty fingers. “I don’t think so. Just…Jesse, don’t shove your chair back!” The boy froze in an awkward crouch over his chair as he prepared to stand. The barest hint of sulfur preceded Kurt’s arrival.
“Todd?” Rogue asked in shock. Kurt waved to them.
“Hi, Rogue,” Todd said absently, holding a brown bag up to their companion’s face. The retching noise wasn’t muffled in the slightest by the bag. As the woman’s vomiting subsided, Todd rubbed his hand soothingly over her back, murmuring, “You okay now?” He waited for her to nod before he took the bag away and gingerly folded the top over.
Gulping a breath of air, the woman smoothed her tangled hair away from her face and looked up at the room’s occupants.
Logan’s eyebrows shot up at the same time Rogue gasped, “Rachel?”
* * *
“So basically,” Rachel finished explaining several hours later, after introductions, dessert, saying goodbye to Kurt, and putting the children to bed had been taken care of, “Monique was kinda scaring me with all her anti-mutant stuff. I finally talked to Todd about it, and that’s when he brought me to the professor.”
“Quite a stretch of the imagination that you were all cozy with the mutant-hating bitch not so long ago and now you’re here with a bunch of defenseless mutant kids,” Logan growled, making Rachel shrink back against Todd.
Swallowing audibly several times, Todd said, “Really, Logan…uhh. Sir,” he tried again when Logan glared at him, “I think you’re being unfair to Rachel. It took a lot of courage for her to stand up to Monique like she did. Besides, don’t you trust the professor? He’s the one who suggested that she come here after all.”
Logan grunted. “Doesn’t mean I’m not gonna be keepin’ an eye on her.”
“No offense,” Rogue added, “but I agree with Logan. I think you should sleep in the spare room here for now, Rachel.” She and Logan had made the decision to move Elizaveta to the dorm that night, knowing that neither of them trusted Rachel to be near the kids yet.
“Now wait a minute!” Todd protested. “I’ll be sleeping in the dorm, too. You don’t think I’d let anything happen to the kids, do you?”
“No,” Logan acknowledged, “I don’t think you’d let anythin’ happen to them, but that’s not the same as bein’ able to stop somethin’ happenin’ to them, is it?”
“Uhh, n-no, I guess not,” Todd stammered, exchanging a look with Rachel.
She shook her head at Todd. “It’s okay. The professor was clear that seeing to the children’s safety is always our first priority. That’s just what they’re trying to do.” She looked Rogue straight in the eye. “And it’s not like I’ve ever given you a reason to trust me. So I’m fine with staying in the spare room for however long you think is necessary.”
“Now you’re bein’ too cooperative.” Logan’s tone was a blunt challenge.
“Well, gee, I’m sooo sorry!” Rachel said angrily, rounding on him. “You want me to argue that I should stay with the kids? I’m sure that would make you trust me.”
Rogue couldn’t help but chuckle. “She’s got you there, Logan.”
He grunted. “Don’t forget I’ve got super hearing, little girl. That means I’ll hear you if you so much as take one step out of your room tonight. And don’t forget the claws,” Logan finished with a growl, barely restraining himself from popping them. Part of him wondered why he was feeling so threatened by the woman’s presence. He did trust Xavier, and he had every confidence that he could keep Rogue and the children safe. Maybe it was just that the fact that a relatively unknown entity was encroaching on his territory. Logan gave a mental snort of amusement when he realized he was feeling thankful that his feral mutation did not require him to piss on everything to mark it as his. Glancing at Rogue, he saw that the mark he had placed on her their first night together had completely disappeared. Frowning, he looked at Todd and thought that with another male in the area, it might be a good time to give her a new mark.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Another short chapter. Everything will be coming together shortly, promise! I realize that the passage of time may be somewhat unclear the past couple chapters, but there are some hints. That being said, please let me know if anything starts to feel rushed or unnatural.