CHAPTER 21 – Exams
She buried her face in her hands, absolute mortification making her flush from the tips of her ears down to her toes. She wanted to crawl under a rock.
“This can't be happenin'.”
She sat on a stool in the medlab, Logan standing less than a foot away, hovering over her possessively, hands in fists by his sides. She could just make out the dangerous rumble he was giving off.
Hank stood half way across the room, shifting from foot to foot, looking so painfully uncomfortable she felt sorry for him. He was turned half away from her, eyes shifting from place to place, hardly ever landing on her.
“It is,” Logan grunted.
Hank nodded and tried to speak. “Uh, yes. I must, um, concur with Logan.” He cleared his throat. “It's quite powerful.” He nervously grabbed his glasses and tried to clean them with shaking hands. “Quite....”
Logan's rumble became a low growl of warning. Marie looked at him with horror.
“Is this...” she pointed between the two of them. “...behavior...normal?”
Logan grunted. “As normal as it's gonna get.”
She looked to Hank, who was scratching his neck. “Hank?”
He looked at her fleetingly, bringing his eyes away immediately. “Logan and I are ferals, Rogue. You may have gotten a healthy dose of it but it's ingrained into our DNA.”
“Huh?”
Logan pressed his lips together. “It's a rival thing,” he said. “Hank can't help it anymore than I can.”
“But he doesn't have to stand half way across the room,” she insisted. She turned to Hank. “You're not going to hurt me, Hank. I'm not scared of you.”
Logan's growl turned dangerous. “No.”
Before she could protest, Hank spoke up. “Body language is almost as important to us as scent is, Rogue. I, obviously, am having a reaction to your body's chemical output. But it's more than merely olfactory.”
He shifted. “My presence threatens Logan's claim on you. It makes it very uncomfortable for him for me to be too close.” He flinched. “And it's quite uncomfortable for me as well.”
She turned pink again. “I'm so sorry, Hank.”
“Not your fault,” Logan grumbled. His growl had come back down to a rumble.
“Indeed not,” Hank agreed. “It will wear off soon, along with any other manifestations of his mutation that you pulled on. Healing mostly.” He shifted. It looked like he wanted to say something but was having a difficult time working up the courage.
“What?” Logan snapped.
Hank cleared his throat again. “I assume...I assume you are using protection.”
She scrunched her nose. How did he know....
Oh, dear God. Why wouldn't the earth just open up and swallow her up whole? “God, you can smell that too?”
Hank actually turned a slight bit pink, which came out more purple than anything else. “It's a very powerful scent. You must be in the ovulation portion of your estrus cycle for this...heat...to set in. I’m just trying to..” He cleared his throat. “...make sure you’re taking precautions.”
She tried to get a hold of the humiliation. She sighed and rested her forehead in her hand. “I've been on the pill for a long time. Jean put me on it originally, when I was with Bobby.”
Logan snarled. “Why the fuck would you have needed it then?”
Hank jumped slightly and shifted away a little more.
She glared at him. “Because that's what a good doctor does, Logan. A mess of teenagers livin' in the same building? You'd have to be thick not to know what happens. She was taking precautions.” Which really weren't needed at the time since anything like that with Bobby would have killed him. “Moira kept me on it after that and that's it. No problems.”
He turned his face away and took a huge breath of air, trying to calm himself.
Hank nodded. “Well, that is... that’s good. We should maybe take your x-rays on a different day, Rogue. I think perhaps today...it may be difficult under the current conditions. Your arm seems healed enough, yes? No pain?”
Logan took hold of her upper arm. “None. Let's go.” He had her off the stool before she could even answer.
“Logan!”
He growled into her ear. “Marie, I'm two seconds from guttin' the man.” She was surprised by the strain in his voice.
“Okay.” She let him lead her out and back to the elevator. The doors closed and they were halfway to the second floor when he finally let out a breath of air. “You okay?”
He closed his eyes and shuddered. “That was fuckin' intense.” She walked out in front of him when the doors opened back up onto their floor. They walked quietly down the hall.
She sighed. “I'm sorry,” she whispered. “I didn't realize how strong the feral instincts are.”
He grunted, leaning around her to open the door to their room. “You didn't do anythin' wrong, darlin'. You didn't know.”
She walked in and he closed the door. She could see him visibly relax. “I understand why you needed some distance from each other. But...why was he so skittish?”
He growled. “He was aroused, Marie. You're lettin' off a pretty damn enticin' scent. But your mine. My mate. He knows that. He could smell the sex all over us. If he didn't want me breaking his jaw to assert dominance, he was goin' to have to show submission to me.”
She flinched. “That sounds awful. And degrading.”
Logan nodded. “He did it out of respect. It was pretty damn decent of him actually. We're feral, Marie. We understand what the other one is feelin'. I've never been around a female feral -- not that I can remember anyway -- so I didn't recognize the scent.” He cringed. “Well, my body did, but not my head. Once I smelled Hank's reaction, it sort of clicked in my mind. I felt threatened. I needed to keep you away from him, in case he tried to mate with you.”
She took a deep breath. “Rough.”
He rubbed his face. “That's one way to put it.”
She shifted. “Do I still smell like that? It hasn't worn off any?”
She saw his nostrils flare and his eyes darken with desire. She swallowed, feeling a flush creep up her neck.
She grinned. “It's actually sort of...hot.”
Her words caught him off guard and he growled. “Cut it out.”
“Cut what out?” She smiled inside. Might as well take advantage. She suddenly had the most wicked idea.
“You know what, Marie. Cut it out.” He was staring at her, his muscles tense. She walked over to the bed.
She shrugged. “Okay.” She let the wickedness she felt inside show in a slow smile that spread across her face. She stretched languidly. “I'm tired. I think I'm just gonna lay down.”
She crawled onto the bed on her hands and knees. He stiffened and growled. “Marie, I swear to God...”
She laughed. Sweet revenge was hers at last. “How would a female feral do it, Logan? Am I close?”
He never answered her, but if his roars of pleasure from his position behind her were any sort of indication, she was pretty sure she'd hit the nail on the head.
XXX
Before they knew it, exams were upon the X-men college students. Bobby and Kitty were at their state college, but Jubilee and Marie drove to the closest local college administering exams for their program.
After two weeks locked up in the library, they'd driven into Salem for three consecutive days, nervous but prepared. The testing room held a full class of online learning students all taking different exams. Three proctors handled the materials and walked around the room as Jubes struggled through her history exams and Marie pushed through her engineering ones.
Thursday finally dawned, the last day of exams. She'd noticed Logan rise and leave a while ago but hadn't bothered to find out why. Her face stayed buried in her pillow, trying to get every last moment of sleep possible. Her hardest exam was today. She'd stayed up late trying to cram as much as she could into her head.
She heard the door open as he entered a while later. “Marie,” he said softly. He crawled into the bed and climbed half on top of her, running a hand over her hair. “You gotta get up, darlin'. You gotta be downstairs to meet Yella' in 30 minutes.”
She grumbled into her pillow. He chuckled. “You're gonna be pissed if I let you sleep more.” She only muttered and buried her face under the pillow. He pulled it away, fighting her for it.
“Logaaaan...It's too early.” She flopped onto her back. He rumbled with laughter and pushed her hair aside.
“You still gotta get up.” She frowned.
“I could not go. I could just drop out. Lotsa people don't go to college. Besides, I'm in debt up to my ears in college loans. I don't need any more.”
He laughed and she peeked out from under her lashes to see a smile she recognized. “What is that smile, Logan?”
After a moment, “I paid off those loans three months ago.” She gaped at him.
“You what?”
He raised an eyebrow. “No reason to be payin’ interest like that.”
She sat up as much as his weight would let her, using her elbows to support herself. “They're federal student loans, Logan. They’re subsidized, and they’re not accruing any interest yet.”
He shrugged. “And?”
“You paid off my loans?” She couldn't believe this.
He looked at her thoughtfully. “Is that a problem?”
“Well...” It sure as hell was. “I mean...it's not your debt, Logan. It's mine. You don’t need to...”
He kissed her mouth, swallowing her protests. When he pulled away he said “No. I don't. But I want to. I have the money. And I have no intentions of not havin' you around so it's our money.”
She glared at him. “Logan...”
“Don't.” he stated firmly. “Don't argue with me on this one, Marie. I'm serious.”
They stared at each other for a moment, each one looking for the other to fold. She plopped back down on the bed. “You're a stubborn man.”
He let out a sigh of relief and smiled. He buried his face in her neck and nuzzled.
“You smell good,” he rumbled. She smiled despite herself. He pulled his head back looking at her oddly. “Real good.”
She was suddenly worried. “The feral faded away weeks ago...”
“No, no,” he said. He dipped his face back in. “It's not that. You just smell...sweeter. I dunno. Still you, though.”
She laughed guardedly. “But not bad?”
He shook his head while still nuzzling her neck. “No. It's nice. Real nice.” He pulled away and sighed. “I'll try and figure it out later. Right now, you have to get goin’.” She groaned.
XXX
“Damn. We're gonna be late.” Rogue muttered, stuffing her textbook back into her bag.
“No, we're not.” Jubes said while pushing down on the gas.
Marie grabbed onto the side handle when they took a corner a little too fast for her taste.
“Jubes, girl. Take it easy. Remember? I've been in a car that’s flipped. Not good memories.”
Jubes sighed. “No worries, chica. We're in a sedan. They don't flip as easy.”
“Real comforting,” Marie muttered.
“After today, girl, we're off for a whole month. It's gonna be niiiice.” Jubes had a ridiculous smile on her face. “Hangin' out. Drinkin'. Clubbin'. The whole time. Just chillin'.”
Marie smiled. “It will be pretty nice.”
“Now...” Jubes said with disdain, “If only the X-men would lay off a bit on the six a.m. workout sessions...we could really get some much needed R and R.”
“That's not likely to happen, Jubes,” Marie laughed.
She shrugged. “A girl can hope.” She took another corner and flew into the school drive, following it around to the building where the testing rooms were located.
Marie looked out the window and to the sky. “It looks like it's really gonna come down out there. The sky’s pretty dark.”
Jubes sighed. “I heard sleet and rain on the news this morning. Sucks.”
They finally came up on the parking lot of the building they needed. “Damn,” Jubes muttered. “No good parking.”
“Doesn't matter, Jubes. Just find a spot and let's get going. We're pushin’ it kinda close.”
They pulled into a spot in the middle of the large parking lot and spilled out quickly.
“Leave your phone Jubes,” She said while tossing hers on the seat.
Jubes grumbled and tossed hers in. “Stupid testing rules.”
They quickly got their testing materials and ran for the building. There were a couple of Jeeps towards the front with a handful of guys hanging out, music blaring out the stereo. Jubes actually slowed to smile. Marie had to grab her arm and drag her off.
“Jubes. Exam.”
She smiled and waved at them. “Right.”
XXX
“My head is going to collapse upon itself,” Jubes groaned. “So glad that's over.”
Marie smiled. “Me too. Four weeks of relaxation.”
They walked down the hall, pushing through the double doors. Then they stopped in their tracks. “Aw, shit,” Jubes cursed.
The rain was coming down fast. As they stood and stared it only started going harder.
Marie pulled the hood of her jacket over her head. “Guess we're gonna get wet.”
Jubes pushed her hair into the hood of her yellow rain jacket. “I did my hair this morning too,” she grumbled. Tucking materials into her pack, she watched as others from the exam room ran out into the rain, instantly getting wet. “Oh, fuck,” she muttered angrily.
Marie finished pulling her gloves on and sighed. “Ready?”
“Man,” Jubes sighed. “Okay. Let's go.”
They splashed out, running towards the parking lot. Marie held her hood in place and felt the icy water splash against her face. Jubes, who'd been jogging through the rain ahead of her, slowed to pull the keys out of her pocket. Marie passed her, feeling the bottom of her jeans grow heavy and wet from the puddles. They finally reached the car and Marie ran around to the passenger side. When she pulled the handle, it wasn't unlocked yet.
“Jubes, come on.” She looked up to see no Jubes at the car.
“Jubes?” she called.
She looked around, squinting through the falling rain and saw her standing two cars over with one of the guys from earlier standing in front of her.
“Jeez, really?” Marie muttered.
“Jubes,” she called running over. “Seriously? It's pouring do...”
She halted mid-step. Jubes had her hands up by her side.
The man was pointing a gun at her head.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
This was a fun chapter to write. It sets up a great couple of action packed chapters and it just made me smile! Thanks for all the reviews and to doctorg who is awesome for BETA-ing. Enjoy!
Chapter End Notes:
Kick-ass chapters coming up. Hope you're ready! Please review! I feel the tears and snot coming back.... beware! :)