Logan paced the lab with feral intensity as Hank silently cleared the floor of the various metal objects Rogue had accidently summoned during her brief magnetic disturbance. He hadn’t said a word since she had fallen unconscious in his arms, but Hank knew the silence was an illusion. They were both aware of the implications of this ‘medical procedure’ and while Logan chose to see it as a bad thing, Hank could only see it as fortuitous.
After all they, each of them, now had their baser-side and their more genteel façade. It was strange really that he, himself, looked so beastly; while Logan was basically the very model of humanity and yet he had a bestial side within him battling for preeminence that Hank did not seem to have.
When the guttural grumbling left Logan’s throat for the nth time Hank sighed heavily and gentle set the now useless microscope onto the table. Glancing from the muscle bulging and vein popping form of Logan to the still peacefully sleeping Marie he too noted the obvious changes in her physical appearance and the delicate shifting of her natural scent.
Sighing with relief Hank began performing various medical diagnostics; her temperature was not normal according to human or other mutant standards but it was quite close to
Logan’s norm. “Ah, wonderful,” Hank murmured when he lifted her eyelid and found that her iris had returned to their usual warm brown. Her flesh had reverted to pretty peaches and cream the moment she passed out; the claws retracted at the same time, but a quick x-ray confirmed the bony formations were still present within her slender arms. Honestly, Hank found the dainty claws quite attractive on the young girl and he couldn’t for the life of him understand what upset Logan so about the addition to her mutation.
“What,” Logan growled as he came back to her side.
“I am happy to say that her eye color was not a permanent change,” Hank smiled as he finished with his general doctor’s duties.
“Unlike the damned claws,” Logan groused.
“You should be glad, honored even, that Rogue was given something as useful as claws with which she will be able to defend herself.” Hank admonished. Using a scalpel he made a small incision on the back of Marie’s hand and laughed jovially when it healed almost immediately. “Claws and healing, as well as a hefty control of magnetism, the rudimentary use of ice and the somewhat inchoate fire adaptation are all very useful indeed.”
“Marie shouldn’t be,” Logan sighed as he picked up one of her tiny hands and let his fingers stroke the flesh between the knuckles; the place that sheathed the claws. “One look at these things and people will label her a freak.”
“Logan, you and I both know that she has already been firmly set into that category. I have found Marie to be an exceptionally well grounded young woman. The addition of those beautiful distal manus will in no way affect Rogue’s perception of herself.”
“Beautiful,” Logan grated, “there is nothing beautiful about the pain those- distal manus- inflict every time they rip free!”
Hank raised one furry brow and then folded his arms across his chest, “Logan, how can I say this so that you’ll understand?” He was beginning to become aggravated with the mutant before him. If Logan didn’t snap out of this self loathing he would transfer his aversion to
Rogue when she awoke. “Ah…I know! Logan you need to pull that abnormally large head of yours out of your ass and begin to think of Marie instead of wallowing in self-doubt and loathing.”
“Listen here, bub!” Logan snarled as his body flowing effortlessly into an offensive pose.
“No, Logan, you listen.” Hank moved to his side and spoke earnestly, “There is no taking back the claws for better or worse they are a part of Marie now. Do you honestly think she will regret their existence when they are part and parcel with her ability to touch and feel again without ripping others apart in the process?” Seeing understanding in the other mutant’s eyes Hank nodded and left him to think about what he’d said.
Logan watched the blue-furred mutant leave and he felt shame was over his face coating his mutton-chopped cheeks in an embarrassed flush. He had to hand it to the cultured scientist he knew how to get a point across.
There was nothing he would hate more than being the cause of Rogue’s distress. Closing his eyes he thought of her delicate hand, her slender fingers and the graceful arch of the bone claws protruding from her knuckles; the primal side of him had found the sight exceedingly beautiful and if Logan was honest he would admit that his less primal side agreed. Stroking his thumb over her knuckles Logan lifted her hand to his cheek and gently pressed his cheek to the back.
“Mmm, that tickles,” she murmured, her pretty brown eyes fluttering open as she turned her hand so that she could cup his cheek. “It worked,” a beatific smile graced her lips and a slight sheen of tears brightened her eyes.
“Yeah, Darlin’, it sure did.” He returned her smile as his fingers slide from her hand to her wrist and then came to a rest over the sheathed claws. Pulling her hand from his face he stroked her skin absently and pressed a light kiss to it. He wondered if once his own claws had held such an organic flow to them and he wondered if the bony appendages had any sort of feeling lost to him because of the encasing adamantium.
“You wanna see ‘em don’t ya?” She was watching him with an intensity he was only used to seeing when he dared look at himself in the mirror; it was the animal instinct she’d developed that understood his need to inspect her.
Not waiting for him to answer she slowly unsheathed them and offered her hand to him; Logan grasped her fingers lightly in one hand and then the hand on her arm slid upward. Tracing the length of the bone-like claw and lingering over the whirls that decorated them. “Thank you,” she murmured, “for these and for takin’ care of me. Somehow I know it would’ve been bad if ya hadn’t given me a boost.”
“I promised,” he muttered, smiling crookedly.
“Yeah, ya did,” she agreed, a wide grin spreading over her face. “I can touch,” she squealed, pulling her claws back into their sheaths and again cupping his cheeks in her tiny hands.
“So I see,” he grinned back at her, letting her carefree excitement wash over him. She hadn’t seemed repulsed by the claws and Logan felt something deep in his chest unfurl. “So, got any plans on what you’re going to do first?”
“What do ya mean,” she asked puzzled.
“I mean,” he met her gaze squarely and clarified. “Now that you can touch are you going to give it a go with the Drake kid?”
“I don’t know,” she frowned. “He gave me a chance when it would have been easier to hook up with Kitty to start.”
Logan suppressed a rumbling growl and the urge to point out the Ice Prick had kissed someone else while technically dating her. “Just be careful, Darlin’.”
Rogue nodded her eyes vacant for a moment and then with a sad little smile on her lips and the brightness of tears in her eyes she stated as firmly as she could, “I think I should give him a chance to explain.”
The proclamation hurt and Logan didn’t understand, but his more animal nature was roaring in outrage at her decision. As he brooded he noticed Marie's eyes watching him closely and then she rolled them, "Geez, Logan do ya really think Ah'm that needy that I'd take a boyfriend back that took one of my best friends sparkin'?"
"No," he frowned at her, "I think you cared 'bout the twerp."
"Ah did," she nodded, "But he didn't care enough for me."
"He's a damned fool," Logan growled.
"What about you," she murmured, glancing away the sad look back in her eyes.
"What do you mean," he asked confused.
"When ya kissed me earlier," she peeked up at him and then away. "I sorta saw the night Jean escaped."
"Ah, hell, Marie!" Logan scrubbed his hand over his face; he hadn't thought about what parts of him she'd be getting when he brushed his lips over her forehead. Those moments with Jean were not the kind he was particularly proud of and to have Marie witness his weakness; well it made him doubly regretful.
"Are ya gonna go to her," she asked so quiet, so sad, that Logan found himself pulling her against his chest and hugging her tight.
"No, Darlin'," he shook his head letting his nose brush the crown of her head. "She ain't for me."
As soon as his words touched Marie's ears she wound her arms around his waist and they both stood silently wondering what their next move should be.
“Are you ready to vacate my humble domain,” Hank’s jovial voice interrupted their quiet musings.
“You bet,” Rogue nodded enthusiastically.
“Well then,” Hank made a gallant hand gesture and indicated they should follow him. “Let’s discuss a few things and then you are free to go.”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Hank & Logan talk and Rogue & Logan talk.