The Previous Day
Marie slept in later than usual that morning. Usually she was up at six on weekday mornings to get ready for teaching, or for more of her own lessons. As today was Friday, that meant she was due in the Danger Room at eight o'clock for one final scenario before their mission to the lab tomorrow. She didn't much care if she was late to her training session this morning. She knew Logan would be there, and she wasn't quite sure how she felt about seeing him right now.
After she'd been awakened from her nightmare by Logan, and all that had transpired afterwards, she found herself tossing restlessly for hours, unable to sleep. She kept replaying the things he'd said in her head, feeling a fresh round of embarrassment each time she heard, I shouldn't have kissed you. Kept reliving the feel of his lips on hers and hearing him say, Fuck, Marie, and feeling another surge of arousal at the memory. With nothing but Logan on her mind all night, she had tried relentlessly to quiet the refreshed Wolverine inside her head. She had not been successful. The latest transfer of Logan's energy, though only for a moment, had added several nuances to Wolverine's behavior in her head. In addition, he was more dominant, louder in his opinions, and goddamn him, a whole hell of a lot sexier. Marie bared her teeth at the thought, then swore loudly as she realized that was all Wolverine.
Looking at the clock on her nightstand, Marie blinked rapidly trying to clear the gritty feeling from her eyes. It was 8:11. The Danger Room training session was already in progress then. She sighed and rolled over, pulling the sheets over her head and forced herself to try and shake off the memory of last night.
A loud knock on her door made her jump and she sat up. Was it Logan? Coming to bring her to the training session? Her heart raced and her stomach jumped at the thought.
The knocking continued. "Rogue? Are you there?"
Marie let out a huff of air, blowing some errant hair out of her eyes. She was both relieved and disappointed in finding out who was knocking on her door. "Go away, Bobby." She was not in the mood to deal with him. Marie didn't know whether or not it was the fact that she had just been around Logan, but Bobby seemed like such a child. It was one of the reasons they'd split up; Marie had wanted someone more mature, someone who was more forceful in their actions. And that someone just wasn't Bobby.
More knocking, louder this time. "Rogue, come on. Open up. I know what happened last night."
Marie narrowed her eyes. How the hell did Bobby know what had happened last night? There was no way he knew Logan had been in here. It's not like he could smell Logan in here. Not like she could. "Fuck. Off." She responded.
Apparently not caring for her tone, Bobby turned the door knob and strode in to the room. Marie jerked the sheets back over herself, outraged at his boldness. "What the fuck, Bobby?" The Wolverine in her head was growling menacingly as Iceman looked at her. Bobby stood close to the open door, arms crossed.
"The lock was busted," he shrugged, foolishly unconcerned at the death glare Marie was giving him. She hadn't realized at the time that Logan had broken through her lock to get to her. Not that it mattered, she told herself. Anybody can get through a damn door in this place. "Come on. Suit up. We're all ready and waiting for you."
Marie noted that he was in his black leather uniform and felt a smidgeon of guilt for not showing up for the training session. "Can't you guys just do it without me?"
Bobby shook his head. "You know we can't. The Professor wants us to have one final run-through before the mission tomorrow."
Another stab of guilt. She had just made it on the senior team, and here she was fucking it up already. She owed this school so much; her control over her power, her friends, the roof over her head. And she was acting like a spoiled child. She let out a sigh. "Okay. Give me two minutes."
Bobby smiled at her response, but didn't move from the door.
"Um. Can you get out while I change?"
Bobby winked as he turned to leave. "Nothin' I haven't seen before."
Marie felt herself blush mildly at his words. Though they'd never gone all the way, they had done their fair share of fooling around, just as she had been learning to control her powers. The memory of Bobby's hands on her breasts flashed briefly in her mind. The Wolverine thrashed wildly at Bobby's words and her memories. "Oh, shut up." She told the beast.
She could hear Bobby laughing out in the hallway. Well, that worked out nicely. That had applied to both of them. Marie bounded out of bed, stepped into the black leather uniform that was hanging in her closet and laced up her boots. A quick trip to the bathroom to grab a hair tie and she left her room, pulling her streaked hair into a high ponytail. "Okay, let's go."
______________
"Well, that sucked," Kitty said as she, Bobby, Marie, Storm, and Logan left the Danger Room.
Marie nodded in agreement but didn't speak further as they headed down the hallway. Their communication and coordination had been awful, their timing off. All of which had resulted in a failed training scenario. She had kept getting distracted by trying to look at Logan throughout the simulation, damn him. He hadn't looked at her once the entire time. In fact, he hadn't said a single word to her after she'd arrived with Bobby. Unless you could count the loud sniff he'd made upon their arrival, "About time."
"Well you know what they say, 'bad dress rehearsal, good show,'" Storm replied, trying to raise their spirits. Glancing at the others, Marie could tell it hadn't had any such impact. "Regardless of how well that session went-"
"It sucked," Kitty interrupted.
"Regardless of how that went, we need to remember to stay focused tomorrow. Even though it's a reconnaissance, intel gathering mission only, we need to stay alert. Anything can happen when you're in the field." As team leader for this mission, Storm was determined to maintain a positive attitude and ensure they had a successful mission. She didn't need any negative thoughts influencing the outcome tomorrow. "Okay. Any final questions before tomorrow?"
Everyone looked around but no one said anything. Marie briefly caught Logan's eye before he growled quietly and slid his gaze past her to stare out the window. Marie sucked in her breath at the small pang that went through her at his actions.
"Alright then. See you all tomorrow morning. We're taking off at ten o'clock sharp."
At those final words, the team disbanded; Kitty and Bobby linked hands and headed off towards the grounds, while Storm turned to Logan and said, "Logan? A quick word?" He hesitated briefly then nodded and the two of them strode off towards Storm's office.
Marie was left in the hallway, at a loss for what to do next. She didn't have any other classes or lessons on Fridays. Usually, she and some of the others would head into town for lunch or other errands. But none of that sounded appealing to her today.
The Danger Room session had lasted a grueling three hours, but somehow she wasn't tired. She felt a restless energy that she thought might be leftover from the brief contact with Logan. "Ugh!" She said out loud, thoroughly annoyed that she couldn't stop thinking about him for two minutes.
"Food. When in doubt, eat." Her stomach growled in response as she suddenly realized she'd skipped breakfast that morning. She strode toward the cafeteria, suddenly ravenous, boots echoing in the empty corridor. With the students still in their last class before lunch, she would have no trouble grabbing something quickly before they swarmed into the lunchroom for their midday meal.
After grabbing some food, she found herself almost to a table when she looked down at her tray. A cheeseburger, a roast beef sub, and a bowl of pork and green chile stew. Marie realized that the Wolverine had wanted meat and she had subconsciously been grabbing what he wanted. She set the food down in disgust and went back for something lighter. She suddenly felt like punching something. She smiled as she ate her food quickly and then headed down to the gym. She was going to get the Wolverine out of her head, if only for a few minutes.
______________
Logan followed Storm into her office where he shut the door behind them, a scowl on his face. He had an idea of what she was going to say to him, and he wasn't sure he wanted to hear it.
"Logan. What the hell was that?" Storm said sharply, surprising him.
"What the hell was what?"
"That ridiculous display in the Danger Room. You were distracted the entire time. I need this team, the entire team, to be able to focus tomorrow. I know it's just a scouting mission, something to break in the newer members, but the rumors surrounding this lab are no joke. I need everyone on point. Including you."
Logan said nothing in response. He couldn't deny the truth of Storm's words. He had been distracted. It had started when Rogue hadn't shown up for the training. She was always on time. It worried him, more than he'd wanted to admit to himself. After several minutes of pacing and having an internal mental battle, he started towards the door, intent on bringing her downstairs to join them. It was likely his fault that she wasn't down here in the first place. But Bobby had been closer to the exit, given him a smug look eerily similar to the one Logan had give Bobby last night on the stairs, and announced that he would go and get her. It didn't matter that he knew Bobby and Kitty were together. The thought of Bobby going into Marie's bedroom made him grind his teeth in jealousy and the Wolverine inside wanted Bobby's blood.
Then, throughout the entire Danger Room exercise, he'd been too focused on Rogue's actions, her movements, the smell of her. Though he'd left the mansion last night, it had done nothing to clear Marie from his mind.
"Is it Rogue?"
Logan jerked his head to stare at Storm, his eyes narrowed.
"Come on, Logan. Anybody who's seen the way you two look at each other knows there's something between you."
"Nothin' is going on," he growled. "She's just a kid." But his words sounded hollow, and he knew he didn't believe that anymore.
"Are you looking for someone's permission? Because you don't need it. She's twenty-four, and you're-" She broke off at the sardonic look on Logan's face. "You're old enough to know that she's a grown-up, perfectly capable of making her own choices. You two have always cared about each other, protected each other. Even if you don't want to admit it, even if you don't want to act on it; straighten this out before tomorrow. That's an order."
Logan grunted in mild amusement at her last words. Storm was right. He needed to find Marie and work this out. It was past time he let her know how he felt about her. He muttered a thanks and turned to leave the office, intent on setting things right.
______________
Marie was soaked in sweat and breathing hard, but she didn't stop moving. Though it was surprisingly flexible, the black leather of her uniform really didn't breathe. She'd have to talk to someone about that, see if they could find an alternate fabric for future missions.
She kept moving, light on her feet. Punch, right cross, jab, front kick. Knee strike, bob and weave, left hook, turn, elbow strike, back kick. The satisfying smack of her gloves and boots on the free-standing punching bag gave her mind something to focus on, other than Logan and the Wolverine in her head. She'd been down here for a good thirty minutes, trying to work off her nervous energy, trying to get Logan off her mind. At noon on a Friday, she had the entire place to herself.
"Nice moves, kid." Suddenly, Logan's voice broke her concentration. She turned towards the entryway to the special skills corner of the gym, where he was leaning casually against the door frame.
"What the hell do you want?" She growled, turning back the punching bag to continue her set.
"Thought we should talk," he said as he drank in the site of her. Her dark hair was twisted up, the finer hairs at her temples were damp with sweat. The black leather uniform left nothing to his imagination as he looked at her. It hugged every full curve and led his eyes to follow the line of her toned body from her calves to her full breasts. Suddenly he wanted to strip the leather off her and sink himself deep inside her right there on the damn gym floor. He shuddered at the intensity of the feeling that ran through him at the thought of moving inside his Marie, marking her as his. The beast inside was growling his approval.
"Not sure -" she punched the bag, "you - and I -" hard right hook, "have - anything -" left jab, "to say!" She kicked the bag hard enough to knock it over and Logan smiled to himself. Fuck, she was attractive right now. All fired up and angry. Her face was flushed from exertion and her eyes sparked with violence.
Marie bent over to upright the bag and he clenched his jaw at the site. She turned toward him, breathing hard. "How did you know I was down here anyway?"
"I smelled you. I can always smell you." He noted to his pleasure that her eyes darkened at his words and the scent of her arousal suddenly flooded his senses. She was mad at him. Oh, yeah, definitely pissed. But she still wanted him. He moved away from the door frame and started walking towards her, slowly. Stalking her. As he moved closer, he noted she moved in sync opposite him until they were circling each other, eyes locked.
"You lookin' for a fight?" He said, grinning.
"What makes you think I want to fight you," Marie responded as she started undoing the Velcro of her kickboxing gloves.
"Instinct." Logan said cockily.
"You know what? Maybe I do wanna fight you." One glove dropped to the ground, followed quickly by the other. She started unraveling the tape that protected her hands beneath the gloves and that too dropped to the floor. Anger was bubbling inside her. Anger at herself, at Logan, at the damn incessant Wolverine inside her head.
"One condition," he said as they stopped circling each other. "No powers."
"Fine, no powers. Like I want any more of that damn Wolverine inside my head than I already have," she snarled.
"Okay, kid. Show me what you've got."
She'd had it, her anger spilled over at his words. "I'm not a goddamn kid!" She dropped quickly to one hand and with a hard kick swept Logan's legs out from under him. He landed on his back with a loud thud and grunted at the satisfied look in her eyes. She danced away from him, hands up in a blocking position, bouncing lightly from foot to foot.
He hadn't learned to fight like Marie had - all technique and floor mats and gentle introductions to new styles. He'd learned the hard way - learned by following his gut, his instincts, learned by getting his ass kicked more than a few times. Although - he did a swift kip up and grinned at the look of surprise on Marie's face - he had learned a few new tricks since joining up with the X-Men.
He saw a look of uncertainty come over her face as he could practically hear her thoughts racing. She wasn't likely to want to punch him, not with the adamantium covering his skeleton. She would have better luck if she could get him down on the ground again. They circled each other again, Logan weighing his options. He didn't want to hurt her, but he didn't want her to think he was going easy on her, either. He'd have to focus on more wrestling-like moves, less combat moves.
Marie darted forward, pulled to one side and landed a vicious kick to his ribs. He grunted, surprised at the quick dart of pain, and she'd darted back again before he could counter.
"Like my steel-toed boots?" She asked, unable to keep the smugness out of her voice.
"It tickled." He growled back at her. The Wolverine within him wasn't one to be beaten. Especially by his mate. He exploded forward, taking her off guard, and quickly threw her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. One hand banded across the backs of her thighs and slid up to cup her grabbable ass. She shrieked and twisted in his arms, but he held her tight, smiling as he could feel her anger rising again. He stalked over to a pile of exercise mats against the wall and tipped her over so she landed on her back with a bounce. He quickly dropped down on the mat and approached her, crawling forward on all-fours.
Marie had frozen in place at the look on his face as he moved towards her. It was pure, raw, animal hunger. The Wolverine was out. And he wasn't playing any more. Suddenly panicked at the intensity of his expression, she scrambled backwards, trying to get back on her feet, but felt her head bump the wall adjacent to the mats. She was cornered and had nowhere to go.
Wolverine continued to stalk her and he could hear her breathing, feel her heartbeat, smell her sweat. He was excited at the chase and he was ready to demonstrate his dominance over her. He was on her in an instant, and flipped her over onto her stomach with one arm. She tried to push herself up again, but stopped when she felt his hand running up her calf, over the backs of her legs, between the junction of her thighs. A rush of liquid heat flooded her body and she let out a moan as his fingers worked their way between her legs, over the sensitive bundle of nerves at her center. His other hand went to her hair where he snapped the black elastic hair tie, let her hair loose and ran his fingers through the damp strands, inhaling her scent.
He brought her up on her knees in front of him as he leaned close to her ear. "I. Want. You." he ground out, the words nearly unintelligible by the desire that clouded his mind. He ground against her, and she felt the hard length of him. A shudder went through her and she leaned into him, throwing her head back and exposing her neck. He growled, satisfied at her display of submission and bent his head to lick the skin of her neck. He bit the sensitive spot where her neck and shoulder met and she exhaled loudly with the stinging pleasure of the bite. He brought one hand around to unzip her uniform down to her hips, heedless of their semi-public location, and plunged his hand inside to palm her full breast. As he cupped and kneaded her breast, thumbing her nipple until formed a hard peak, his other hand reached down the front of her uniform to feel the wet slickness of her. He let out a low rumble as he felt and smelled how ready she was for him and Marie moaned as he slowly moved one finger inside her, circling her clit with his thumb. He nearly lost his mind at the feel of her as she said, "Oh, fuck. Logan."
Marie was lost in a sea of sensation. Her skin tingled where Logan touched her, without drawing on his energy. Her anger had been replaced so quickly by lust that she felt dizzy. That is, if she'd even really been angry in the first place. Hearing Logan say he wanted her let loose of coil of emotion she hadn't known she'd had pent up. He slowly began moving one finger inside her while still lazily circling her clit, and her knees would have buckled if he hadn't held her tight against him with his other arm. Faster and faster his finger moved, in sure, smooth, steady strokes until the pressure and sensation of it all broke and crashed over her, and she jerked back against him and cried out her release. Not giving her a moment to recover, Logan turned her to face him and met her lips in a ravaging, branding kiss. He plunged his tongue into her mouth and groaned at the silky feeling of hers meeting him, still feeling the tiny shudders of her ebbing climax go through her body. He bit her bottom lip lightly and moved back, feeling the beast within him growl in satisfaction at the look on his mate's face. Flushed cheeks, slightly swollen lips, and a dazed look in her eyes.
Logan moved off the mat, gently zipped up her uniform, and helped her to her feet. At the sight of the disappointment on her face he grinned, held out his hand to her and said. "Come on. I'm not nearly done with you."
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Well, this went in a direction I didn't expect. Things, um, heat up a bit.
Chapter End Notes:
I promise we'll be checking in with Logan in the next chapter. Thanks for reading!