Rogue opened her door cautiously and peeked out into the hall. This had become her habit for the past two months. At first she tried to tell herself that she was just checking to see if the kids were behaving themselves from the noise levels in the mansion or that she wanted to make sure that the rest of the mansion was as warm as her room so that she wouldn’t look silly in a short-sleeved shirt when everyone else was wearing long-sleeved. However, pretty soon she had to admit, at least to herself, that she was avoiding a certain Wolverine like the plague when possible. Since Rogue had made it her mission for his first months back at the mansion not to pay attention to his whereabouts, it had taken her some time to remember to listen for tell-tale signs that he was entering or leaving his room, whispers of sound that no one else could hear.
As soon as Rogue heard Logan leave in the morning, she usually felt safe enough to proceed with her routine of checking to make sure he wasn’t lurking in the hallway. Even though her stomach was still a little tender so early in the day, she made it a point to get downstairs early enough that he wouldn’t have an opportunity to bring her up food anymore. The one time she breezed past him as he was carrying a loaded tray upstairs had filled her with grim satisfaction, and every day since then she managed to be at breakfast long before he filled up his own plate, let alone one for her.
Smiling smugly, Rogue made her way down the steps and into the dining room only to be brought up short. Somehow, Logan managed to be the only person sitting at what was informally known as the “Teachers’ Table.” Usually at least one other adult would be there, and Rogue would always use them as a buffer to avoid any unnecessary contact with Logan. It would look very strange to the few students already in the room if she sat elsewhere, though, considering Logan and she were supposed to have called an uneasy truce long ago, at least for the benefit of the students. So Rogue grabbed a few items randomly from the breakfast buffet and headed over to the table.
She did not sit at the furthest seat away from Logan, but Rogue made sure that a couple of chairs were between them. She kept her head down as she woodenly picked up her spoon and scooped up some oatmeal. She could hardly taste the stuff around the lump in her throat, which was probably more of a blessing than anything because she really didn’t like oatmeal very much. A few more bites followed the first, and then a deep voice interrupted her thoughts.
“Don’t tell me the all-powerful Rogue is afraid of the Big Bad Wolverine.” The amused comment was pitched so that only the two of them could hear.
Rogue’s gaze lifted to Logan’s, the green deepening with her anger as she glared at him. “Ah’m not afraid of anything, especially not you,” she told him, trying to believe that it was true. She hated that, without the distraction of Scott, her body sometimes responded to Logan despite how much she despised him. If she feared anything, it was her own body’s betrayal, Rogue told herself.
Logan’s eyebrow rose with his characteristic smirk, and Rogue was tempted to try and wipe it off his face right then and there. To control her temper in front of the students, she turned her attention back to her food. She knew that breaking eye contact would appear to be a sign of weakness to him, but she just didn’t care. It was that or risk the Professor’s wrath when she did her best to beat the arrogant bastard to a bloody pulp, and since she didn’t care what Logan thought of her anymore, she would focus on keeping the Professor’s good opinion.
Rogue was in the middle of biting into a slice of orange when Logan spoke again.
“You know, I was talking with the Professor yesterday about combining our self-defense classes. You can’t demonstrate the more aggressive moves for your students in your condition, so it make sense to have me there during your classes to act as a—teaching aid, so to speak.”
He said it so casually that Rogue almost thought she hadn’t heard right. It took her brain a few seconds to catch up, and then any thoughts of keeping the Professor happy flew right out the window.
“You did WHAT?!” she yelled, jumping up and turning to face him in one quick motion. Rogue’s fists were balled at her side as she advanced toward him. “There is no way in HELL that Ah will share my students or any other part of my life with you, Wolverine! We will not be teaching classes together! My being pregnant is not affecting my teaching, dammit!” Her voice rose in volume with each small step she took towards him. By the time she reached him, Logan was standing warily, but the amused glint in his eyes told her that it was all for show.
“Calm down, Rogue. You’re a good teacher, but you and I both know that you’ll hurt the baby if you try to do too much. It’s why you’re not on missions anymore. It just makes sense to combine the classes. The Professor thought so, too,” he told her, raising his hands up as if to fend her off.
Rogue switched directions as quick as thought, reached over and grabbed her plate. It sailed through the air with all of the strength she possessed, and even Logan wasn’t fast enough to keep it from shattering against his head. As he dropped to the ground, stunned and bleeding, Rogue hovered over him—literally—and yelled, “Ah don’t give a damn what you or the Professor thinks, Wolverine! You and Ah are NOT working together!”
Rogue flew out an open window before anyone else in the dining room, including Scott and Ororo, who had just walked in, had a chance to react.
Logan glared out the window in the Professor’s study and tried to ignore the disapproving stare leveled at his back. So maybe he had jumped the gun a little bit at breakfast. All he’d meant to do was tease Rogue, make her pay attention to him. He did want to help with her classes, too, since he felt that the kids needed someone to spar with who was experienced even if the teacher was indisposed.
“Then maybe you should have let me talk to Rogue first, Logan,” the Professor commented behind him. Logan shot him a dirty look. “I will stay out of your head when you stop acting like a five-year-old who has been denied a treat and act like the grown man you are. We have to find some way of salvaging this situation so that Rogue will allow you to help with her classes.”
“If Rogue needs someone to help train her kids, I’m willing to help, Professor,” Scott said from his seat on one of the leather couches in the study. Logan’s glare transferred to Summers for a moment before he returned to staring out the window into the blue sky.
“I am afraid that your own schedule would make that difficult, Scott. While all of the other teachers would also make good candidates for helping Rogue demonstrate to her students, their schedules also interfere. I also do not want to switch everyone’s classes around so close to the end of the school year when there is a perfectly good self-defense teacher who does not have classes which conflict with Rogue’s,” the Professor said, giving his protégé a hard look. “Besides, Rogue and Logan must learn how to work together someday. What would happen if the school were invaded, giving us little or no time to divide into teams. I must know that they can work together for the good of the students despite their personal differences. I believe that this gives us a safe, drawn-out time frame in which to work through any problems and set my mind at ease as to the situations we might one day find ourselves in. We all live too much in each other’s pockets to allow such bitterness to continue unchecked,” he added severely.
Logan felt surprised but slightly gratified at the Professor’s words until Scott piped in again.
“Professor, Rogue shouldn’t be blamed for how she feels towards Logan. Don’t you think that making her work with him is almost like punishing her in this situation? Please, let her friends help her,” he practically pleaded.
Logan’s fists clenched together, the claws itching to slide out, but Professor Xavier’s next comment cooled his temper somewhat.
“Scott, I appreciate that you care for Rogue, but there are times when we all have to work with those we otherwise would choose not to. It is part of her growing up process to learn how to do that. Otherwise, how can she teach her child—your child—that valuable lesson one day?”
Logan wanted to howl at the Professor’s phrasing, but it did seem to make Scott reconsider. He crossed his arms and glared at the floor for a few minutes, reluctantly acknowledging that the other man did, unfortunately, have some stake in this decision, too.
After a few minutes of silence, Scott nodded his head to Professor Xavier, deliberately ignoring Logan. “All right. I’ll support you in this, Professor. I just hope you know what you’re doing—and I hope you’re prepared to pay the repair bills!”
Logan almost laughed at that one before he remembered his bleeding head from earlier and realized that the joke was on him.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
I have heard the cries, I swear! It's been a horribly busy time since last summer. I truly didn't mean to get so lost in the mundane world, but unfortunately it happened. I'm back, though, and I'm going to try to stay on track with this and my other unfinished stories!
Chapter End Notes:
Thanks for reading this again! I'll try to get another chapter up soon, I promise. And remember, reviews are always welcome and help feed the muse.