*Four Months Earlier*
He'd been on the damn motorcycle for three days, stopping a few hours each night to grab some sleep in the kind of motels even he didn't usually want to enter. He was just so sick of traveling. He’d had a taste of what life in a real home was like, and despite the fact that he was pretty sure half of the residents at Xavier’s were probably dysfunctional psychos, he was determined to return.
He didn’t really question his need to get back to that mansion in New York. He didn’t want to think about it, because if he thought about it he’d have to face the dreams he had each night that he knew were just plain wrong. You weren’t supposed to think about minors like that. He knew at least that much, and he’d always stayed away from young girls who were in bars looking for the wrong kind of escape from the world.
Logan tried to make his mind blank as he roared past the open wrought iron gates. Instead, he focused on the students he could see on the side lawns. He’d come at just the right time, when those who had homes that welcomed them were gone for summer break, meaning fewer pesky teenagers around. He searched through the kids running around outside, but he didn’t see the familiar face he was looking for.
“Logan!”
Oh, that didn’t sound good. He turned his head to watch Scott Summers run down the front steps of the mansion, a look of desperation on his face. The way the other man’s glasses were pointed downward, he was obviously checking his precious motorcycle for scratches. Or larger damage. Not that Logan had let anything happen to the damn thing. He knew the value of a good – okay, fucking terrific – piece of machinery.
“Thanks for letting me borrow the bike, Cyke. I’m gonna go say hello all nice and happy to Wheels now,” he said gruffly. He got off the bike and grabbed his bag just in time. Scott was already starting to wheel the thing towards the garage.
Scott simply nodded and kept going, so Logan made his way inside. He figured that, since it was closest, he’d just do what he’d said he would and let the Professor know that he was back. He wanted to make sure he’d still be welcome, too, after that incident with Sabertooth in Vancouver. He really hadn’t had any choice but to kill the man. Hopefully for good, this time.
Logan pushed open the door to the study where he’d first met Charles Xavier. The man was alone, his back to the only entrance. Logan would’ve thought that was foolish if he hadn’t known that Xavier could take control of anyone he chose with the power of his mind alone.
“Welcome back, Logan. How was your trip?” Xavier asked, turning his chair to face the new arrival. He made it sound as if it had been months, not years, since Logan left.
Talks like it was a fucking vacation, Logan thought wryly. “There was a lead I thought would help at Alkali, but nothing else. The lead didn’t turn out to be all that hot, either. These people cleaned up after themselves pretty good. I kinda figured that I couldn’t do anything about them up there, but here…well, you guys seem to go against the ones who’re harming people, and I thought that maybe one day, if I was with you, one day we’d be fighting them since they only know how to harm, and so I could get them back for what they did to me,” he said awkwardly. He knew that didn’t come out too great, but he hoped that Xavier would let him stay anyway.
“Logan, revenge can only last so long, and it is not a particularly good reason for wanting to join the X-Men. We help those who are victimized no matter who they are. What if we had to rescue these people who did so much damage to you one day? What would you do?” Xavier asked.
The Wolverine in him growled a little at the idea, but Logan managed to hold him back. “I’d do what I had to do, and I’d mark them. And watch them. ‘Cause they’d slip up some day, Chuck, and then I’d be right there to let ‘em fall on my claws.”
Xavier sighed and then nodded. “We need you, Logan. The X-Men have grown in the years that you have been gone, but not quickly enough. There are rumors of something big about to break, something we may not be prepared for. I accept your offer to join us,” he said. Logan was about to leave when Xavier said, “You’re going to need something to do during the day, Logan. Perhaps you’d consider teaching or helping our around the school.”
In other words, you need to pay to stay. Logan understood and respected that. He’d been traveling around on his own too long not to. He nodded and left.
The halls were empty as he walked through them, and Logan found that relaxing. He headed to the room he’d occupied during his last stay, and he wasn’t surprised to find that it hadn’t changed at all. In fact, several sets of clothing his size had been added to the wardrobe, shoes his size were lined up at the bottom, and there were cigars and whiskey in a locked drawer in the bedside table. Good old Xavier, he thought, always prepared.
After he’d gotten used to the changes, he finally noticed something that had been nagging the back of his mind. It was a scent that was as familiar to him as his own.
Marie had been here. A lot, as the freshness of her scent testified to. And she’d been everywhere. He wondered how many times she’d come here and just walked around touching things.
Logan was just finishing putting away the few things he’d taken with him and the even fewer things he’d acquired when his door opened. He turned and resisted the urge to grin.
“Hey, kid,” he said.
She stared at him in shock, her face paling instantly. “Lo-Logan! Ah didn’t know you were back! Ah came here ‘cause Ah thought Ah left a glove up here…umm…a few days ago,” she babbled. He noticed that she still had a hint of the South in her voice even after a couple years living in New York.
He thought it was pretty amusing and let the smile through – just a little. Yeah, a smirk would be okay. “Yeah, thought you’d been around a lot.” He wondered why though. Why she’d chosen his room.
“It’s just that there’s nowhere else around here to go when Ah need to get away from…the world, Ah guess. Ah felt comfortable here,” Rogue said, regaining some of her composure by reminding herself that she was an adult now, legally and everything. She stepped forward into the room and smiled. “It’s good to have you home, Logan,” she said, unsure of how to greet him. She wanted to throw her arms around him, but something held her back. It wasn’t as if she really knew him or anything. He’d just saved her life and was in her head, although his presence in her mind was slowly fading with time. He didn’t really know her, either.
“I missed you, Marie,” Logan said honestly, shocking her by giving her a hesitant hug.
“Umm…Ah missed you, too, Logan,” Rogue replied, hugging him back. She pulled back and looked up at him seriously. “How was your trip?” she asked, knowing that it was very important to him that he find some part of who and what he had been.
Her heart ached for him when he just shook his head. “Looks like all that’s left are dead ends. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see if they’ll come to me,” Logan told her, his features hardening briefly.
“Ah’m sorry,” Rogue said softly, squeezing his hand. “Ah was really hoping you’d find something out there to help you.”
“Thanks,” he said, smiling down at her. She felt as if the sun had burst from behind a cloud at the sight of that wonderful smile directed only at her.
“Hey, you know, Ah think it's almost dinner time. You gonna eat with the rest of us, or are you gonna drop like it looks like you want to?” Rogue asked, trying to add a little sparkle to her expression. She felt herself relaxing, remembering how kind he had been to her when he convinced her to the give the School another shot.
Logan's eyebrow shot up. “I guess food wouldn't be a bad idea. Is it still as good as last time?”
Rogue laughed. “Better. We got a new cook last year,” she told him as she moved back into the hallway so that he could follow her. “Have you seen anyone else yet?” Please don't say Jean. Please don't say Jean.
Shaking his head a little, Logan fell into step beside her. “Just the Professor and Scooter. I wanted to settle in a little first. Wasn't sure what the reaction would be.” He seemed about to say something else, but it died unsaid.
“Well, Ah for one am glad you're back. Ah have a feeling you being here will liven things up a little,” Rogue said, greatly daring.
Logan's eyebrow shot up. “Really? Why's that?”
“Because you're you, silly. And Ah know how it was when Ah was acting like you for a few days.” She felt safe giving him a smug little grin.
It actually earned her something resembling a chuckle. “I guess.”
They were almost to the dining room when she remembered and stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Oh, Ah guess...Ah mean, do you want your tags back?” she asked, lifting them a little shyly from where they had been tucked into her shirt.
The eyebrow again. “You wear 'em, huh?”
Rogue blushed a little. “Yeah. They...they make me feel safer,” she admitted quietly.
Logan's brow instantly furrowed a bit. He raised a hand to brush the white hair next to her neck, closer than most got to her skin. “You okay here, kid?” he asked gruffly.
Rogue smiled, although it hurt to hear him call her that. “Ah'm fine, Logan, really! It's just sometimes, you know, the past can be a little hard to handle. But Ah'm working through it. The Professor and—and Jean really help me a lot, Ah promise.”
Logan nodded and seemed to accept that. “Yeah, kid, I know what you mean.”
They continued on to the dining room in silence.
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Just so that everyone knows here, I very rarely bow my head to the phonetic spelling of dialects. I am making a small exception here. It's rare. Either you'll love it, hate it, or not care. Hopefully I won't do it too horribly.
Chapter End Notes:
In case you were wondering, this is one of those knock-you-down-then-pick-you-up-so-I-can-knock-you-down-again stories. You've been warned! Oh, and before we go any further, also be warned that this particular story may not have a Rogan ending, HOWEVER, if I do that, I will write a sequel. I promise. I'm just not sure if it's fair to incorporate my idea in this one and make it really really long, or keep it short(ish) and sweet and do what I want to in the sequel.