The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000
Author's Chapter Notes:
Settling down...
On days after an all-night mission, the kids at the School got a lucky break. Morning classes were canceled, and afternoon classes depended on what state the teachers might be in by then. Not that there were many classes on Sundays, but the occasional training sessions for powers or guided group discussions did occur frequently. Needless to say, any classes scheduled the day after Logan and Jean returned were canceled. Students huddled in corners, whispers were exchanged, and knowing looks cast upon adult after adult as they passed by in the halls. Many of the whispers were about how exhausted Dr. Grey looked or how Mr. Logan looked even more pissed off than normal. One rumor spoke of a death by adamantium in the hallway outside the dining room due to a student having the temerity to say hello. There was a small thread being woven through the tapestry of gossip, however, that focused on the fact that Mr. Summers and Ms. Rogue had been seen going upstairs together early that morning, still dressed in their black leather uniforms and practically touching as they walked. That thread was fed and thickened by the juicy information that moans could be heard by those students lucky enough to have rooms directly under Mr. Summer's's, words shouted in Mr. Summers's voice and in Ms. Rogue's—and not shouts of anger, either! The next, and best, tidbit described how a student trying to find Ms. Munroe some time after lunch caught a glimpse of Ms. Rogue leaving Mr. Summers's room dressed only in a long sleeved shirt that came to just above her knees and a sleepy smile, her leather uniform bunched in one hand and boots in the other. That same student saw Mr. Logan open his door just as Ms. Rogue slipped through hers, and she was so scared by the growl that she forgot all about finding Ms. Munroe and ran back downstairs. Of course, no one really believed those last bits, just as they didn't believe that Logan had killed a student. It was all just gossip, rumor, innuendo.
Except that Rogue did leave Scott's room a little after lunchtime that day. She was carrying her uniform in one hand and her boots in another, and a smile lit her face as she thought about the good-bye Scott had insisted on giving her before he would allow her to go back to her own room. And she tried to ignore the sound of the door opening to her left as she twisted her own doorknob, entered her room and shut the door firmly but quietly behind her. Tried not to feel the eyes burning into her back through Scott's shirt.
It didn't matter, Rogue told herself. What she did was her own damn business, hers and Scott's. Logan knowing about it wasn't going to change anything. It wasn't going to affect her, she instructed herself severely as she showered, as she dressed for the day, dried her hair and applied make-up. What Logan thought or said or did was no concern of hers any more as long as he left her alone. So what if he'd decided to leave his room just as she left Scott's? It was probably just a coincidence. She ignored Carol when she snorted at that. Damn older women and their high and mighty superiority complexes when it came to men. Carol had approved of Scott, though. Rogue thought that was probably a good thing, even if she didn't plan on having the woman so dominant in her head for much longer.
The rest of the day flew by as Rogue helped introduce the students to the new arrivals along with the other X-Men. She sat and talked with the youngest girl, Lynn, the one whose torture they had interrupted. She was a fragile looking thing, wispy blond hair and pale blue eyes that seemed to pierce any falsehood you might try to dish out to her, rejecting platitudes and reassurances. It didn't surprise Rogue to find out she was a telepath. Rogue told her a little about her own mutation, letting her know that she understood all about how difficult it was to hear voices in your head. After a while Lynn announced that the Professor wanted to see her about setting up training sessions, so Rogue smiled and squeezed her hand gently, telling her she'd see her in class in the next day.
Rogue wandered through the garden next and contemplated how unexpectedly easy it was to avoid people when you lived in a mansion. She hadn't seen the Professor all day, although granted he was probably busy dealing with the new mutants, helping them figure out what they wanted to do if they were older and seeing that they were evaluated for educational levels if they were young enough for that. Jean had also been scarce that day. Rogue idly wondered if she had slept in her old office in the med bay. She knew there was a bed in there, just in case. As for Logan...it didn't matter if it was Logan staying out of her way or her staying out of his; either would suit her just fine.
Rogue looked ahead and saw the expanse of the back field behind the School in front of her. That open area and the cold wind pulling at her jeans, her coat, decided her. Looking around surreptitiously to make sure no one saw this first attempt of hers, Rogue began running. After a few steps, she shot into the air and just kept going. It was a wonderful feeling. She hadn't realized it would be so easy. It was easier to move with the air currents, although she also knew she didn't really need to. Rogue climbed higher, enjoying the cold stinging her cheeks, feeling the wind tugging harder at her clothes as she accelerated. When she knew she was high enough, she dove back down, pulling up before she reached the ground to climb even higher. She did corkscrews for the hell of it, pleased at how easily this power was responding to her. Even Carol was quiet, as if she was simply reveling in the feeling and knew it would stop if she gave Rogue a hard time about the ability being a stolen one. Rogue could understand that. Flight was truly a glorious thing.
Logan watched the woman flying through the air. He glared at her aerial acrobatics. When he'd first glanced out a window and watched her launch herself into the air, his heart had literally stopped for a moment in fear. It seemed like she figured out pretty quick what she was doing, though, so there was no need to worry about her safety. He could go back to being pissed.
Of course, Logan knew he had no call to be. None at all. Still, the sight of her sneaking out of Scott's room, wearing what had to be his shirt, smelling like her and Scott and sex, had practically driven him insane that afternoon. He had waited until he knew she was in her room before he stomped down to the Danger Room. He was going to be getting really familiar with that program, he told himself as he pummeled imaginary enemies into shapeless hulks of metal or mounds of torn up flesh.
It was in the Danger Room that Logan realized why Rogue had turned so coldly angry the day after finding him with Jean. He felt that anger in his bones, and knowing how it felt drove him that much further into guilt as well. The anger stayed with him after he finally left the sub-levels, showered and was wandering the halls until he came to this window.
“I want no disruptions, Logan,” Xavier said behind him. Logan knew that he knew who he was watching.
“I'll work on it,” was all he was willing to promise.
Xavier rolled up beside him. “Make sure you do that. Once she gets more control, I am going to suggest that she starts helping with combat training. She does very well on her own, and now with her increased strength and her flight capabilities...she will make a formidable opponent.”
The comment wasn't meant to be random, so Logan didn't take it that way. He knew what Xavier was trying to tell him. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out.
“I'll try and make sure we don't break the building, okay? Just schedule us at different times or something,” he muttered.
Xavier smiled wryly. “That will mean that you have morning classes, then. Since her academic classes are mostly in the morning. I will give her the afternoon slot for combat training classes,” he said.
Logan shrugged, his eyes still on that lithe figure in the air. “Fine.”
They settled into a routine. Rogue joined Scott in his bed a few nights a week, both seeking comfort in the arms of a sympathetic friend who just happened to turn them on in many interesting and inventive ways. Meals during the week were always tense although Scott and Rogue would arrive first so that they were almost finished eating before Logan and Jean made it into the dining room. That was the unspoken rule. On the weekends Rogue was always the first one in the dining room, and she would be halfway down the hall to the gym for a work out before Logan came down for food. Next was Jean, and Scott always waited until almost lunchtime to eat his breakfast just to make sure she was gone. Whenever Scott or Rogue would see Logan or Jean in the halls or in one of the common areas, they would ignore them or turn around and leave depending on the situation. Missions, and there were only a few, were strictly divided between the new teams. Rogue sometimes missed 'Ro and Hank when they were out without her, but it just couldn't be helped. 'Ro would always make it up to her by taking her shopping on the weekends with Kitty and Jubilee. Sometimes Rogue felt like she should feel a little sorry for Jean because she was never invited, but that small pinch of remorse was usually over with almost as soon as she would think it. Let the woman rot in the med lab for all she cared.
One thing that Rogue loved the most about the aftermath of that fateful mission was her new powers and the key they seemed to have been for her status as a combat instructor. It helped that she was slowly integrating Carol's memories with her own, which meant she had the advantage of remembering years of military training and drill. In fact, after a few basic lessons she qualified as a pilot on the Blackbird, much to Scott's delight. All in all, her professional life was looking up and her personal life wasn't as bad as she'd been expecting when she heard that Logan and Jean were coming back.
Almost five months had passed since the day that Logan and Jean had betrayed them, and to Rogue it felt as if maybe she and Scott were finally close to putting it all behind them. She'd actually only slept with him once that week, on Friday night. She wasn't sure if it was the mission earlier in the week or her own feelings which had kept her away, but it did still feel good to lie in his arms and forget, for just a while, that her life was royally screwed up in relation to what she had thought she wanted from the time she was sixteen. The next morning was the first morning that she broke the routine, however.
Rogue slept in. She couldn't seem to get up enough energy to do more than pull the covers more tightly over her head and burrow in, content with the feel of Scott warm against her back. So she didn't make it down to breakfast first. She didn't make it to the gym, either. In fact, Scott had to wake her up when he managed to drag himself out of dreamland, and then she told him that she didn't feel very well. Scott put a hand against her forehead to check her temperature, but he said her skin felt fine. Rogue shook her head slightly, afraid of puking on his nice comforter if she moved more firmly. Scott just sighed and helped her to get out of bed, pushed her out his door with orders to shower and head down to the med lab so that Hank could figure out which virus she had caught and give her some medicine. It was early February, after all, and half the mansion was sick with colds and minor infections. Rogue fought down the nausea and agreed.
After a shower she was feeling a little better, but she still called to ask Hank if he had a few minutes for her. She must have sounded miserable because he told her to get down to the lab right away. So she threw on some jeans and a shirt, pulled her hair into a messy ponytail because you could do that when you're sick and get away with it, then went down to the med lab. She really hoped it wasn't anything serious. She had several demonstrations she meant to do in her combat training class on Monday, so she couldn't afford to be sick.
Chapter End Notes:
Hmmm...so what's up? Free Logan-covered-in-chocolate-sauce for the one(s) to guess the right answer!