He followed Marie’s scent, finding her out on the terrace. He stood beside her, silently watching the morning sunlight spread across the back lawn.
“You mad at me?” she finally said.
“Mad? Why the hell would I be mad?”
She shrugged, still unable to meet his eyes. “‘Cause I yelled at your friend.”
“She deserved it. She was being a bitch. She’s mad at me for somethin’ else, and took it out on you. I’m sorry about that.”
Another shrug from her.
He watched her in silence, still trying to figure her out. “You okay, Marie?”
Another shrug. She was going to get a shoulder cramp if she kept that up, he thought with amusement. He waited her out patiently, familiar now with how she got when she was working up to telling him something important.
“This place...” she finally said. “I never saw anything like this place. I don’t belong here.”
“Hey.” He pulled her up against him, and she let him. “I felt that way at first, too. But these geeks are pretty good people. Give them a chance, okay?”
No answer from her, and finally he reached out, slow enough not to startle her, and gently cupped her face through the screen of her hair until she met his eyes.
“I’ll take care of you. I promise.”
He saw the emotions flicker through her eyes, so fast that he couldn’t read them all. Hope, and longing, and fear, and something else, something that caused his heart to twist and his blood to speed in his veins. He dropped his gaze, suddenly uncomfortable.
She drew back, that facade of toughness coming up like a barrier between them. She shook her hair back and stood up straight. “I told you once already. I can take care of myself. Now introduce me to these geeks of yours already so I can finally take a nap.”
_____________________
Logan knocked on the door to Xavier’s study.
“Do come in, Logan.”
Logan entered the study, the girl trailing behind him. “Chuck, this is...”
“Rogue,” the girl interrupted him firmly.
Logan raised an eyebrow in her direction, which she studiously ignored.
“Rogue,” Xavier said. “It is a pleasure to meet you.” I am relieved that you are both safe, he added telepathically.
Logan had seen Xavier show off his telepathy to many new students and mansion visitors, but none had ever reacted the way Marie did. Her eyes snapping with anger, she marched up to Xavier’s desk. Her slender frame was tense with indignation as she stared him down. “Don’t you do that again. I have enough voices in my head. I don’t need any more.”
It wasn’t often that Logan saw Xavier disconcerted. He turned an inquiring gaze to Logan, who shrugged.
Xavier’s voice was conciliatory when he spoke again. “I’m sorry, my dear. Many people find telepathic communication unsettling at first, but it has become second nature to me. I will certainly refrain when possible if you find it unpleasant.”
Marie seemed to be gauging his sincerity, and then finally she nodded, relaxing her tense posture a fraction.
Xavier’s smile was warm. “Please, sit down. You have both been through quite an experience. If I may, I will call the others, they have been quite concerned for you as well. And it would be helpful if we could all debrief you at once.”
Logan looked to the girl, who of course shrugged. Hell, she had already yelled at the two people she had met so far, might as well get it all over with, he thought with amusement.
Ororo arrived first, giving Logan a warm hug. “You scared the hell out of us, you know?” she admonished him in her lilting accent. She turned her warm gaze to Marie. “And you -- my child, we were so worried for you.” Marie’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Scott and I found the videotape. What they made you do -- it was horrendous.”
Logan knew Ororo meant well, but he saw Marie retreat further at the thought of others having seen that tape. She pulled his jacket more tightly around herself, looking down until her hair fell over her bruised face.
Within a few minutes Scott, Jean, and Hank had joined them around the small conference table in Xavier’s study. Jean’s scent was tinged with both shame and anger, and she carefully avoided looking at Logan and Marie. After a brief wondering look at Hank, Marie looked steadily at the table as Logan filled them all in on what had happened. When he got to the part about Marie’s mutation and how she had accessed Freddy’s memories to find out information on Kitty and Jubilee, the scrutiny of the others appeared to be too much for her. She pushed away from the table and started wandering around the room restlessly, looking at the books in the bookcases and the various knick knacks on the tables.
“Fascinating,” Hank murmured, his eyes following the girl around the room, and Logan felt a rush of protectiveness towards her. Hank’s furry blue paws were probably itching to get her into the medical bay for testing. Over my dead body, Logan thought, suppressing a snarl.
It must have shown on his face or in his scent -- Logan saw the brief startlement on Hank’s face before the fellow feral nodded carefully in acknowledgement of Logan’s claim on the girl. Christ, his claim on her? There he was, thinking like a fuckin’ animal again.
Scott and Xavier were droning on about tracing electronic money transfers, and so Logan was still dwelling moodily on the girl and his unusual reaction to her when he suddenly scented a spike of panic coming from her. He jumped up, the claws sliding free reflexively. The girl had been wandering by the bookcases. Now she was pale, her eyes locked on Xavier, but he couldn’t see anything wrong.
He sheathed the claws again as the conversation at the conference table halted, all eyes on the two of them. He got close enough to Marie to speak to her without being overheard. “What’s wrong?” he asked in a low undertone.
She seemed to snap back into the present. “Nothing,” she said, avoiding his eyes. “Just bored, that’s all.”
“C’mon, Marie, what scared you? I could smell it all the way across the room.”
Her mouth twisted sullenly. “I told you, nothing, all right?” She tossed her hair back, glaring at the table of X-Men who were staring at them both. She raised her voice so that they could hear it. “Maybe I’m just done being talked about. Maybe I want to do some talking.”
Logan’s angry growl was interrupted by Xavier’s mild voice. “Of course, we would all like to hear whatever you have to say, Rogue.”
Her eyes were cold as they regarded Xavier, but as close as he was Logan could see her hands shaking and smell the nervousness in her scent. “I told Logan I’d help you find those girls, and I will. But not for nothing. There’s a few things I want, too.”
Jean jumped to her feet. “You greedy little...” she hissed. “We could just take the information out of your head if we wanted to...”
“Just try it, Red,” Marie snapped. “I’ll show you some things that’ll give you nightmares for the rest of your life.”
Scott pulled on Jean’s arm, but it was Xavier’s stern reprimand that sat her back into her chair. “Jean! We do not threaten others with our skills.”
Logan put himself between the X-Men and Marie, trying to figure out what the fuck had just happened. “What the hell do you think you’re doin’, Marie?” he growled.
She clenched her hands into tight fists, still avoiding his gaze. “Taking care of myself, like I said I could.” She looked at Xavier again. “They got me where I live. When this is done, I want enough money to start over someplace new. I want...ten thousand dollars. And a fake ID.”
Xavier’s eyes showed his disappointment in her, but his voice was carefully neutral. “That can be arranged. Anything else?”
“Yeah.” She took a step further from Logan. “I want the collar.” She jerked her chin toward Hank. “He can tell me how it works, right? Like, if it needs batteries or something.”
Hank’s gaze was avid behind his round spectacles. “You brought the suppression collar?”
Marie pulled the collar and remote from the pocket of Logan’s leather jacket. Christ, he hadn’t even known it was there, but then again she had been wearing the jacket pretty much constantly since they had escaped. She set it on the table by Hank.
“Anyway, that’s my offer. Think about it. I’m going to find a place to take a nap. I suggest one of you start driving to Camden, and take a computer with a video camera or something. I only know how to get to the boat ramp in Delaware by sight, I’ll have to guide you from the bait shop. You can wake me up when you get there.”
With that she sailed out of the room. Hell, no, Logan thought. He gave her a five second head start -- just long enough to snap, “I’ll take care of this,” to the others -- and then he was stalking her down the mansion hallways.
___________
He caught up with her in the kitchen, firmly hustling her back out onto the terrace, ignoring her kicks and struggles. Once he got her out there he let her go, planting himself in front of the only door, arms crossed over his chest.
She glared at him, straightening his jacket around her. “What the hell, Logan?”
“Exactly what I was going to ask you, Marie. What the fuck was all that about?”
She dropped her eyes. “Just asking for what’s fair.”
“Fair? Money? And that damn collar? Since when did you care about that more than you care about stopping this thing? Finding those other girls, and the ones that got sold before you?”
He could tell from her scent that she was still hiding something, but her voice shook with genuine anger. “Fuck you, Logan. You don’t know what it’s like -- being a prisoner in your own skin. Not able to touch anyone without hurting them, and getting hurt yourself. I deserve that collar. And the money -- it doesn’t mean a thing to a guy like that.”
“Bullshit. You’re buying yourself time for something.” It was a shot in the dark, but he saw it hit home -- her eyes widened and her scent spiked again with fear. He felt the frustration welling up inside him. He grabbed her hard by her shoulders. “What is it, Marie? You already had the collar -- no one else even had to know. And the briefcase -- you had that too. I would have given them to you free and clear if you had asked me. Hell, you could have taken off with both of them, and not come back for me.”
His anger faded as he remembered what she had done for him. He took a deep breath, loosening his grip on her shoulders with an effort. His hands gentled, rubbing her arms and then down her back. He felt her take in a shuddering breath, her body trembling slightly beneath his hands.
“Marie. Darlin’.” His voice was a raspy whisper. “You told me about your mutation. You accessed Freddy’s memories, and -- God -- I could see how much that hurt you. You didn’t ask for anything then. What happened in there? What spooked you?”
He pulled her in close to him, and felt her usual brief resistance before she yielded, burying her face in his chest, hiding in him. He held her, trying to soothe her trembling, willing her to tell him what was going on. “You can trust me, Marie.”
It was the wrong thing to say. She stiffened, pulling free of his arms. She stepped away, huddled into herself. When her eyes met his they were shuttered, unreadable. “I don’t trust anyone,” she said flatly.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
A somewhat cryptic and in-betweenish chapter, but I promise the next one is long and very Rogan, and I'll post it this weekend. Enjoy! :-D
Chapter End Notes:
Please review! :-D