“I think Logan could help,” Rogue offered nervously from the doorway of the conference room. She chewed her lip, glancing over her shoulder at Jubilee for moral support.
“Rogue, I don’t think so,” Scott said shortly, moving to straighten the chairs.
“But -“ she began.
He cut her off. “Just because you have a … a thing with him does not mean he’s any good.”
For a man that was supposed to know those who fell under his command, Scott failed to see the change in Rogue’s attitude. To be fair, he’d never been around when she lost her temper. He did catch the encouraging whisper Jubilee made, but it wasn’t enough to warn him of what was to come.
“Oh no, you don’t!” Her hand was on her hip and her eyes had narrowed in indignation. “First of all, that thing you are referring to is my relationship with Logan. Just because you fail to take it seriously doesn’t mean we do. Secondly, I know you don’t like him, but he’s got military experience, and he’s a good fighter. And don’t think I’m so naïve as to confuse the two.”
Scott was surprised; he’d never truly seen this side of Rogue. If it were Jubilee, he wouldn’t be shocked; she had an opinion on everything and didn’t mind sharing it, but Rogue... He opened his mouth to say something, but she held up her finger as if scolding a child.
“I am not finished. Thirdly, you have said time and again how important it is to take this group down. Tonight is our lucky break and you are going to let it go because we are shorthanded and you don’t like the guy that might be able to help. Who is confusing their personal life with their duties now?”
Taking a deep breath, Scott had to admit the last point was spot on. They did need to take out this group, or at least get hold of the information that would take them down. Putting aside his dislike of Logan, Scott had seen his history, knew he was a veteran, and he had heightened senses that might be helpful as backup. If Rogue was this confident in his abilities, it wouldn’t hurt to see what he could do.
“Go get him. I’ll meet you in the Danger Room.”
Rogue flashed a cocky smile and walked off down the hall talking excitedly with Jubilee. “If he’s as good at fighting as he is at making love, Mr. Summers will want him on the first team.”
Scott sighed, somethings just couldn’t be unheard.
It was the golden ticket and he didn’t want anything to do with it. Logan huffed; he simply wanted life to continue as it had. During the day he would fix things around the school, and in between, he would make love to Marie.
He no longer cared about his mission for SHIELD, yet he’d signed up for this and couldn’t simply walk away from it without repercussions for everyone. It stuck in his craw, for some time now he’d been thinking of dumping the burdensome life of the command structure and drifting, something he should have done before. Now that he knew Marie, he was at a loss of how to proceed without losing her in the process.
Sighing heavily, he screwed the light switch panel back in place. He could feel her excitement. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. This was the beginning of the end and he couldn’t share her enthusiasm, but he couldn’t deny her request either.
Wordlessly he followed her to the elevator. He didn’t watch her punch in her code to make the elevator descend to the sub-levels. Fury had been pressuring him to wrap up this mission, but he’d been ignoring him. Logan didn’t trust Fury with the nonpublic side of Xavier’s School.
Logan didn’t suspect anything sinister, his gut told him that Marie wouldn’t be involved in anything evil. However, he’d seen a jet disappear into the basketball court in the middle of the night. He also suspected the team-building exercises she’d spoken of were more along the lines of team combat training, from some of the bruises she occasionally sported. More than once he’d heard the hushed talk of the X-Men from the students.
But he knew Fury well enough to know this information would be viewed with suspicion. No amount of evidence would save the good the school did for the mutant population. He began to rationalize with himself that if he knew the full extent of what the X-Men did, then he might be able to steer Fury in a different direction.
Marie’s voice cut into his thoughts. “Mr. Summers will try to throw a lot at you. Just remember the simulations can’t kill you.”
They exited the elevator and walked down a tiled hallway, passing several rooms. One looked to be a medical facility. That made sense, he had wondered what Dr. Grey did, because she certainly didn’t spend any time in the school’s nurse’s office.
He followed Marie into an empty room; it was at least two stories tall and covered in the same tile as the hall. She walked him to the center and pointed to windows up high on the far side. “I’ll be up there with Mr. Summers.”
Scott was behind the thick glass of the observation room with a clipboard in hand. His voice came from a hidden speaker, “Rogue did you brief him on the procedure?”
“Yes, sir. He’s ready.”
“Good, let’s get this over with.” Logan couldn’t help but smirk at the disdain in Summers’ voice and realized he’d only been ‘invited’ at Marie’s insistence.
She turned to leave, then spun back around. “You’ll do fine,” she said, placing a kiss on his cheek and whispered, “Watch out for the decoy.”
He watched her jog from the room. After the doors slid closed, he turned his attention back to the observation room in time to catch Summers scowling at him before Marie appeared in the room.
She gave Logan two thumbs up and her brightest smile. This was completely new to him, he’d never had his own personal cheering section before. He best not let her down.
The lights dimmed and the surface of the room rippled slightly and changed. Suddenly he found himself in a cluttered alley in the city. He was surprised at the detail, they almost had the smell down too.
Looking around, he could no longer see the windows or the occupants of the room behind the glass. He spied a can on the floor and kicked at it to test the limitations of the simulation. The can easily clattered across the ground to the dead end of the alley.
Realistic enough. There were even shadows for the three tough guys that chased a screaming woman into the alley. Logan reminded himself not to take them out too quickly or show the claws. Only Marie knew about those and he’d prefer it stayed that way.
The woman continued to scream as he confronted the men. After a few minutes of fighting one man was unconscious, and the others had fled. He turned to the woman who was whimpering now.
Logan wasn’t good at soothing hysterical people and he would have normally walked away. Yet he guessed that something more was expected of him. Just as he began to approach the woman hands up, a door creaked behind him.
He knew many people would instinctively turn toward the sound. Instead, he listened for a moment and by the sound of the plastic and shuffling it was an elderly person taking out some trash. He readjusted his position so he could keep an on eye on both people.
As he moved the woman’s image flickered and changed. An overly large man wearing the tattered dress of the woman charged him. With a last-minute sidestep he let the man run into the opposite wall of the narrow alley and land in a heap on the ground.
Wearily he watched the elderly woman struggle with the lid of the dumpster. He finally intervened and put the garbage in for her. Though she was on her own to get the alley door open again.
Up in the booth, Scott looked over at Rogue as he pushed the button to end the simulation. She was bouncing with excitement, because she knew Logan had passed, despite Mr. Summers’ disapproval of Logan not opening the door for the elderly woman.
“At least he didn’t growl at her,” she suggested helpfully. Rogue noticed that Mr. Summers had given Logan high marks for fighting skills, and stamina. She also saw the note at the bottom about holding back.
“There’s that,” Scott agreed with a sigh. “See if you can find him a uniform.”
On impulse, she hugged him. “Thanks for trusting me.”
He returned the hug. “Don’t get too giddy, he’s only passed the baseline test so he can help out tonight.”
She nodded dutifully and rushed off to meet Logan who had already exited the Danger Room. Scott let his smile fade, he couldn’t shake the feeling that somehow this would not end well and that Rogue was in for a heartache.
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000