Chapter 1: Bad Beginnings

Disclaimer: Darn, they all belong to Marvel.

The bar, like most others, was smoky and dingy, bad lighting made worse by the smoke clogging the air. Everything had a grubby and unwashed feel to it, including the giant cage dominating the centre of the room. Bars of reinforced steel gleamed with the dull red of fresh blood from the loser of the last fight, whose entrails were currently being hosed off of the floor to join the rest of him in a corner.

A young man with a shock of prematurely white hair that made him look like a dandelion clock about to be blown away was pushing his way through the braying crowd to get a better view of the cage. He gagged a little as the smell of old blood, fresh blood and innards assaulted his nostrils in a stomach churning mix that overpowered the fug of stale beer and cigarette smoke that had seemed so powerful at first. Having finally managed to squeeze his way to the front without spilling the shot glass in his hand, he stared down the corridor that lead to the room of prize fighters, eyes fixed on what he could see of the door through the circular black glasses shielding his eyes from the casual observer.

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Knocking back a shot that someone had passed through the bars of the cage, Rogue winked and handed the glass back, turning to face her next opponent. Since the mutant registration act had been voted against five years ago, mutants had since then started to become accepted in some areas of society. In Canada, there were less mutant haters which meant more mutants. In many of the rougher bars in Canada, there were cages that had once been for mere mortals to fight in, but now were made of iron to withstand the beating they got from the mutant fighters. Although mutants had been reluctantly accepted, they were still looked down upon which meant that the punters didn't care if a man fought a woman - hey, they were muties, they could take it.
Glaring at her opponent, she circled him once, looking him over to assess his strengths and weaknesses, although she needn't have bothered - since absorbing Carol, her strength could knock out pretty much anyone, mutant or not. Rogue looked him over, pleased to see he looked tough enough to be a challenge, but not tough enough to beat her - in the year she had been fighting, no one had been able to. Bringing herself back to the fight with a grin on that last thought, she looked him over again - Long tail that looked like it had a spike on the end, green all over, odd round yellow eyes and a smell like dead skunk (the enhanced senses she had gotten from Victor came in handy sometimes, but at times like this it just gave her a headache). As she darted forward with a right hook to the jaw, he jumped back to whip his tail under her legs, almost catching her with it but a last minute hover/jump took her away from his tail and straight into his face where she threw all her strength into another punch, sending him reeling back, straight into the bars. With a feral smile that held no humor, she waited for him to recover a little before making him wish he hadn’t.

On the other side of the bar in a dingy booth, a group of five mutants watched Rogue with interest. One finally took her attention away from Rogue to crack her gum and turn to the others.

"Dude, that girl is one mean fighter - I'll bet she could take on Wolvie and come out with hardly a scratch. Shame about the fashion sense though, or rather lack of it - jeans and a flannel shirt just ain't gonna cut it if she is ever going to be seen in public with us.

Ruby tinted lenses turned in the direction of the girl's inane comments, and a man with chiseled features and a commanding air of authority, clearly the leader of the group, sighed in reply.

"Jubilee, firstly of course she will come out of a fight with hardly a scratch - she has invulnerable skin, or were you not listening when we were briefed? Secondly, I hardly think people are going to notice the fact she is wearing jeans and a shirt that just doesn’t happen to have any yellow in it.

The mutant he had called Jubilee huffed and turned back to the cage, cracking her gum again, muttering under her breath.

"Its alright for you, everything looks red anyway."

Shaking his head, Scott leveled a crimson-tinted look at the woman by his side, a dark-skinned beauty with startlingly white hair. Her calm, not- fashion-sense-based opinion would certainly be of more value than that expressed by the all-things-yellow bolt of energy snapping her gum at him.

"So what do you think about our chances of her agreeing to come with us?"

Looking away from the fight where Rogue had just knocked her opponent out with a kick to the gut and an uppercut that sent him flying, Ororo turned to him with a wry smile.

"Well considering she left the brotherhood without Magneto kicking up a fuss, I'm not sure she would be all too enthusiastic to join our cause but she may agree to at least come and see Charles. Although the fact that Mystique is possibly her mother makes me wonder at Charles' decision to ask her to join us. But he obviously sees something in her that is worth us coming up to ask her."

Nodding, he looked back up at the cage that Rogue had stepped out of, taking another shot glass that someone had ready for her and going to the back room, presumably to pick up her things. Standing up, he looked at Ororo, Bobby, Kitty and Jubilee, although focusing on Jubilee to make sure she understood - she was a good fighter and loyal, but sometimes failed to listen to simple orders such as 'Don't wear a bright yellow jacket when we are going out to pick up Rogue, we don't want to stand out too much.'

"Ok, now is our chance to talk to her but we don't want to be too threatening or over bearing and make her refuse instantly. Got that Jubilee?"

With a slight smile, he turned to the bar, walking over to the door and pretending not to hear Jubilee’s mutterings of 'Whatever dude.' as the others followed him.

Glancing at the door as someone knocked, Rogue ignored it, carrying on counting the wad of money she had earned beating up other mutants before folding it up and tucking it deep into the pocket of her jeans. Sighing as whoever it was knocked again she opened the door warily, taking in the five people stood at the door with one glance and focusing on the one with the weird shades lastly as he seemed to be the leader. Suddenly recognising him from Carol's and Vic's memories, she glared at him.

"Whaddya want, Cyclops? If it's to offer a round in the cage with you and your little X-buddies, I'm afraid its too late sugar."

Smiling sweetly, she then looked at Ororo, narrowing her eyes as Carol's memories surfaced again.
**Flying to attack one of the X men, a bolt of lightning knocking her out of the sky and onto the Wolverine's claws where she was injured for the first time since her mutation had manifested. Angry didn't begin to describe the surging hate she felt towards the woman who had hurt her pride more than her 'invulnerable' skin**

"But if ol' Stormy here is offering, them I'm sure I could find the time and energy to take her on."

Shifting slightly to stand a little in front of Ororo, feeling more protective of her than he had ever felt of Jean, Scott kept a carefully blank expression (made a lot easier by the fact his eyes were hidden) and shook his head.

"We're not here to fight you Rogue; we simply wanted to talk and to offer you a place at Charles Xavier's mansion until you find what it is you seem to be looking for."

Snorting, Rogue turned away to pick up her duffle and walk out of room as they moved apart to let her through - even Jubilee remembered the part of the briefing that had mentioned Rogue's skin being dangerous, despite the fact she hadn’t been listening at the ‘invulnerable’ point of the conversation.

"I ain't looking for anything, one-eye, and I certainly don't need your charity - I can look after myself just fine."

Turning to follow her, Scott motioned for the others to stay where they were as she stormed out into the parking lot.

"Rogue, the professor said he might be able to help you control your skin."

Pausing mid-stride, she smiled and turned slowly on one foot

"Do you really think that is going to make me come with you? I've had countless people promise they can help turn off my skin if I only go with them and help them fight this battle or that war. So you can keep your offer because I ain't gonna be used as a weapon for anyone again."

Before Scott could answer she leapt into the air, rapidly disappearing into the snowy night sky leaving only a whirlwind of snowflakes behind her.

"Dude, you seriously need to work on your people skills."

Sighing, Scott turned away from his contemplation of Rogue's bitter words and faced his companions, his visored gaze taking in the five of his best friends, his team mates, his mutant allies and his love. He Jubilee's comment and started to walk back in the direction of the Blackbird.

"We'll have to go back to the mansion, we can't track her in the air, and the professor said that the multiple personalities in her head makes it impossible for Cerebro to get a lock on her, so we'll just have to wait for Logan and Jean to come back and they can try, see if they do any better in trying to get her to come with us."

Boarding the jet that had been landed not too far away and hidden, Scott mentally contacted the professor to tell him everything that had happened and gave him their ETA before starting up the jet

"Ok, buckle up everybody. And no wise-ass comments about my flying, Jubilee."

Rogue arrived back at her motel in a more-than-pissed state of mind, storming around her room, furiously kicking at the wall and throwing the few items she had left there back into her duffle. Some time ago she had overheard a few other mutants talking about a huge annual fight in Calgary that paid out a ridiculous amount of prize money. When they had gone on to say, with audible awe in the voice, that a certain Wolverine had been the champion so many times and ‘gee, wasn’t he amazing?’ the speaker had then trailed off into silence at a rumbling growl from the corner Rogue was sat in. Remembering their stupidly over-awed voices talking about that troglodyte made her blood boil. She swore to herself that she would keep her champion status this time as she had every year since the Wolverine had disappeared off the fight circuit four years ago and she had first heard of the opportunity.

Chapter 2: Mission: possible

Disclaimer: Yada yada, everything is Marvel's.

Notes: ~ is telepathy

Scott, Ororo, Jubilee, Bobby and Kitty sat in front of the Professor's desk, discussing the current problems. Aside from their failed mission to pick up Rogue, there was also the problem of the pick up that Logan and Jean had been doing at the same time, although with more success. They had rescued Dr Henry McCoy from a mutant experimentation facility outside Texas that had been masquerading as a research clinic for human diseases. Having been held for several years, the large, blue-furred mutant was in a bad state both physically and mentally - the years of so-called 'research' had taken its toll on him. Gone was the intellectual, brilliant minded research scientist that had been shown on the television many times when speaking on behalf of mutants and in his place was a cowering, terrified animal that could barely talk. Xavier looked at the assembled mutants in front of him, praying he could keep them safe from the same kind of experimentation Henry and Logan had both gone through.

"I'm afraid my informants have told me there were no records stored anywhere else that we know of, so we can't tell if this is a similar facility to the one Logan came from, or if it is from an independent source. I suggest we do our best to help Henry settle in here, and to try and help him heal the physical and mental wounds he has suffered, though I fear he will bear the scars for the rest of his life…Now, from what you have told about your meeting with Rogue, we can assume that she has been used badly by people whom she once trusted, so it is important to make sure she realises we do not intend to use her in any way, merely offering her a safe place to stay. Perhaps it will be best if we send Jean and Logan, as they will be able to find her the quickest, and a smaller group will not be so intimidating."

Thinking about Logan and the words 'not intimidating', the group sat before the professor tried not to look at him blankly, thinking perhaps he had never actually met Logan, but said nothing. Smiling, the professor shuffled the papers in front of him.

"Very well, if everyone is happy with that, I shall contact Jean and Logan and let them know."

When they realised this was their cue to leave, all five of them got up and left, allowing the professor to contact Jean and Logan telepathically.

"Dudes. Did he just say sending Logan and Jean would be less intimidating than us? Is there a different nice, polite Logan in the mansion that we don't know about?"

Shaking his head, Bobby slung an arm around Jubilee and sighed

"Well I guess that shows that either the Professor has seen something in Logan that we haven't, or else he has a clone hidden away somewhere that he sounds out on pick-ups to fool people..”

After the professor had contacted him mentally (something he had always hated), Logan called out to the computer to shut down the training program and surveyed the damage he had caused in the danger room. Going to take Henry (or 'Hank' as he had known him as previously) out of the experimentation facility had brought back nightmare images of his own time spent being an experiment and he popped the claws, looking at them in disgust; the physical reminders he had to live with everyday of the years he had lost in that place. Logan shook his head to dispel the macabre few memories he had and stomped out of the room, going up to Chuck's office about some new pick-up in Canada.

"…so I would like you both to do what you can, in a non-violent attempt to bring Rogue here - the fact that Eric let her go without a fuss means he still has plans for her and is not worried about letting her go for now. If you could please leave as soon as you can, that would be best. I appreciate you have just come back from picking up Dr. McCoy and apologise for sending you out again so soon, but I believe it could be somewhat of an emergency. Now, these are the co-ordinates of Rogue's last known location. Because she can fly, I am not sure she will even be in the area locally, so it may be wise to go through the fight circuits - apparently she is the current unbeaten champion."

The professor smiled when Logan gave a little growl at that - knowing Logan had once been 'king' of the cage, mentioning this new 'queen' of the cage would almost certainly help to get Logan to agree to go.

"Fine. We'll leave tonight then. That ok with you, Jeannie?"

Jean smiled and nodded, knowing that a Logan in this mood would ask a question but expect only the answer he wanted - in this case a yes. A new champion of the cage would be a great insult to his pride and this meant she would have to do a lot of 'persuading' to try and keep him from fighting her to regain his place.

"Good. We’ll go pack."

Half an hour later, they were stood in the underground hanger of the Blackbird, waiting with their two small bags whilst Scott made some last minute adjustments, half hidden in the engine.

"Hey Scooter, you gonna be long? This kid'll have gone back to the brotherhood by the time we get outta here.”

"Yeah yeah, I'm just doing a little adjustment and you can go."

Huffing, Logan leaned against the side of the jet, looking at his watch. Amused by his constant need for instant action, Jean smiled from her seat in the jet, already in the co-pilot’s chair. Since this was only a pick up and not an 'x men' mission, they were wearing their own clothes; Logan in his usual shirt, t shirt, jeans with a big red-neck buckle and big boots, and she in a red sweater, form fitting jeans and spiked heel boots (a wishful thought on her part that there would be no fighting, therefore no need to wear flats).

~I wouldn't worry about a few extra minutes Logan - I expect whatever Scott's doing will make it either faster or fly better, so we will make up for the lost time anyway.~

~Yeah well, I just don't like hanging around when we could be gone already - they sooner we're out of here, the sooner we get back with the kid~

And the sooner I get the chance to be 'king of the cage' again…

The thought that someone else had the chance of taking his title was one that was worrying him. If his instincts were right (and they were never wrong), and she really was following the fight circuit, then she should be heading for the big annual fight that was held in Calgary, Alberta for an absurdly huge sum of prize money - many of the patrons were rich humans paying to see mutants kill or at least maim each other. The thought of someone else taking the title that he had held for years hadn't bothered him in a while - it had been three years since he had worried about losing the title, but the thought that it was a girl taking it bothered him even more than usual, even if she was a super-mutant with super-strength, powers of flight and invulnerable skin that happened to be dangerous in itself to top it off. Although he tried to ignore it, part of him was looking forward to fighting her for his champion title again, to reassert his power in the world of cage fighting.

Speaking silently to Scott, Jean said wryly

~If previous experience is anything to go by, I think Logan's 'I'm ready to fight all of you' look means he's planning on challenging this girl. Do you think I have any chance in stopping him? After all, the Professor said this was to be a non-violent visit.~

Smiling, Scott re-emerged from the engine of the jet, black oil smears across his forehead and covering his hands. Taking a quick look at Logan, he smirked

~I think you have about as much chance as you would in getting him to get rid of those obnoxious belts.~

Sensing that Scott was looking at him, Logan glared at him, stomping up into the jet with his and Jean's bags - if they couldn't find Rogue straightaway, they had instructions to stay for a week at most. Since the big fight was tomorrow, he didn't think they would be staying much more than three days. Muttering, Logan dropped into his seat, piloting next to Jean.

"About damn time. Thanks Cyke."

"No problem. Should run much smoother now; make it easier to get better control in descent. Now you have no excuse for those bumpy crashes to the ground you call 'landings'."

Grinning, Scott stepped away from the jet as it powered up, the door closing with a hiss as the roof of the hangar, the tarmac of the basketball court slid open slowly into two halves, allowing plenty of room for the Blackbird to rise up. They shot out into the night sky, considerably faster with Logan at the controls than it usually did. In the five years Logan had been living at the mansion, the distrust and annoyance between him and Scott had turned into grudging respect and friendship of a sorts that included male bonding over the Blackbird and hockey (even if in Logan's opinion Scott supported a pansy-ass team and had no hesitations in telling him so).

After a two hour flight during which Logan huffed, chomped on his unlit cigar and muttered about kids taking his place, unaware of Jean trying not to laugh at his sudden attack of ‘the grumps’. They landed (rather bumpily) in a deserted field of snow behind a forest of snow-covered pines. Dumping their bags away from what the engines had now turned to slush, Logan turned to help Jean out of the jet, casting appreciative looks at the tight jeans that almost seemed to be sprayed on, and the sexy spiked boots he loved.

"Damn woman, I'm glad we ain't got company on this mission, 'cuz they wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight."

"Mmm...well in that case you'll be glad to hear I packed that lingerie set I know you love."

Giving him a seductive little smile, she picked up her bag, setting off in the direction of a nearby motel they had passed over, half wishing she had packed decent boots to walk through the snow with. But at any rate, the reaction she had gotten from Logan made up for it, even if she did end up with freezing, wet feet.

Logan following behind grabbed his pack, setting the security on the jet which projected the image of mere snow in its place, grinned ferally, knowing exactly what he would be doing when they got to the motel...

Ch.3: The Defeat

The night of the biggest fight of the year; all around the cage humans and mutants crowded, the rich with the poor, to watch two mutants beat the shit out of each other. Musing on the ability of people (well, mutants too) to forget their differences for one night in order to watch a fight, Rogue sat on a bench in the big back room where the fighters were all waiting, some nervous, although most, like herself, were merely glaring at the others and occasionally taking a sip of the crappy watered down beer that had been handed to them as a ‘pre-fight beverage’. Several of the lesser-known fighters were glancing at her out of the corners of their eyes, noticing her white streaks (courtesy of her first absorbing encounter with Eric) and gloved hands and putting two and two together to make Rogue. Feeling in a particularly vindictive mood, she stared at them until they felt her heated gaze. When she had their full and terrified attention, she growled, low and long with a slight curling of the lip and then looked away, letting them stew in their nerves. When it was time for the fight to finally start, Rogue had to wait even longer as the first timers and immediate losers went first to warm up the crowd. From the back room muffled cheers, boos and occasional crashes were audible. Below that there was also the meaty sound of fist pounding flesh (or scales) whenever one of the amateurs managed to land a punch.

As the evening wore on, the smell of fear, nerves and sweat in the room grew stronger as fewer of the fighters came back to wait for the next round, the loser inevitably being dragged out of the cage and left in a far corner to come round or eventually to be taken to see what passed for a doctor in these parts.

After what seemed to be hours, the man knocking on the door finally called out ‘Rogue! You’re up!’. She dumped her plastic cup of so-called beer under her bench and stalked out after him, muttering ‘finally’. The cheer from the crowd when they saw her was amazing and she found herself fighting the urge to smile, to try and keep the bad-ass image she had spent so long creating.

“Ladies and gentlemen, humans and mutants, the as-yet unbeaten Rogue!”

Another cheer went up, with the occasional boos and shouts of ‘filthy mutie’, but she ignored them and stepped into the cage, the smell of blood coated iron, sweat and triumph hitting her instantly.

Across the bar, coincidentally in the same booth the X-men had previously occupied, Logan and Jean watched Rogue defeat mutant after mutant, occasionally drawing it out as if merely toying with her prey, but always winning. After half an hour, the master of ceremonies finally held up a hand to call for quiet.

“And now, before Rogue is named champion, she must beat one more mutant; any of you wimps out there up to the challenge?”

Logan stood up so quickly he nearly spilt his beer, and pushed through the crowd to the cage, ignoring Jean’s protests, and standing at the entrance of the cage.

“I will.”

Around them the punters cheered, recognising ‘The Wolverine’ and realising this was going to be the best fight they had all seen in a long time.

Rogue turned from her glaring match with a drunk man stood outside the cage, catching the scent of the Wolverine before she saw him, and one again Carol’s memories rose; the flash of lighting reflected off adamantium stained red with her own blood, and she growled low under her breath. Time for revenge. Looking each other up and down warily, Logan and Rogue stood a few feet opposite each other as the mc continued to shout to the crowd about their various stats; odds for betting (which were mostly in Logan’s favour), previous fights and the details of their mutations. With a nod, Logan spoke quietly, guessing Rogue’s Sabertooth-esque hearing would pick up his words.

“So you’ve never lost a fight? This could be a first then...”

Snorting, Rogue looked him up and down derisively.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, sugar. I’ve heard about you and I don’t think I’ll be having the pleasure of that particular first; all brawn and no brains they say...”

At Logan’s growl of disgust, she smiled and winked as the mc prepared to start the match.

“Ladies and gentleman, humans and mutants, prepare yourselves for one helluva fight.”

An unseen bell clanged and the pair went into action instantly as the mc dashed out of harms way into the crowd. After several minutes of unproductive protests, dodges and glaring, they stood, panting a little whilst they reviewed each other momentarily. With a self-satisfied smile, Logan slowly let his claws slide out, shining from the yellow lights above them. Having become impatient with the lack of effect his punches seemed to be having, he had decided this was the only way he was going to win.

Seeing the claws appear, Rogue raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“So we’re playing like that are we, sugar? Well then, I guess it’s only fair that we play equal now, isn’t it?”

All the time keeping eye contact with Logan, she pulled her gloves off daintily, finger by finger and dropped them to the floor of the cage. Putting a bare hand to her mouth, she feigned a look of surprised concern.

“Oops.”

Logan advanced on her, snarling, and she leapt into the air, flying feet first into his chest, knocking him to the floor on his back. Before he could react, she wrapped a bare hand around his throat, the connection opening up immediately and everything that made Logan Logan started to rush into her. With an angry (though decidedly weaker) growl, Logan managed to rake his claws up her back, drawing three lines of red in her shirt where his claws just about broke through her skin. Letting go of him instantly, Rogue flew straight up, hovering at the top of the cage for the few seconds it took to put everything she had pulled from Logan into a ‘box’ and threw it on a shelf in the back of her mind to be dealt with later. She then dropped to the ground in a pose reminiscent of ‘The Matrix’, one leg stretched out to the side, waiting for him to come at her again.

Logan’s claws flashed in the dull yellow overhead light as he drew one hand back ready to slice her top to toe and Rogue sprang at him again, ducking under his arm ready to grab at any bare skin. With a savage smile, Logan twisted to the side and sucker-punched her in the gut, claws going straight through her skin; having predicted what she would do, Logan had feigned going straight for her and Rogue realised this as she stared up at him, stunned.

“Looks like this is your first, darlin’ – I win.”

Gasping a little, Rogue reached up to grab him around the neck again, opening up the connection once more. As Logan collapsed to ground unconscious, his claws sliding out of her, Rogue glared down at him.

“Never underestimate me sugar; it’ll always go bad for you...”

Slowly Rogue became aware of the roar of the crowd around her and she smiled in realisation, triumph rushing through her making her feel light- headed; she had won, she had beaten the Wolverine. She was now the champion of Canada. The mc appeared beside her and raised her arm in the air to more cheers.

“Rogue – the champion! As well as this prestigious title, you will also be receiving a total of $500,000 in cash!”

Having staggered from the cage, one hand over the three claw wounds in her stomach, she waived away any offers of help – she could already feel what was left of the small amount of Sabertooth’s healing she had picked up already start to kick in. Both touches from Logan also helped speed up the process quicker than usual. By the time she had reached the back room where she had been waiting, the only sign that Logan’s claws had ever touched her was three lines of new, pink, shiny skin showing through the shredded shirt on her back and her stomach. The composed, smiling expression on Rogue’s face was nothing compared to the roar of victory she felt inside over beating the Wolverine.

The Wolverine’s current feeling was not one of victory but a bitter outrage at the fact he had been beaten; he, the Wolverine, had been beaten for the first time ever. Not only had he been beaten, he had been beaten by a woman. Coming round to find Jean kneeling over him, worry showing clear in her face and scent, he had sat up rubbing his head; but Jesus that had hurt. His first thought was to go and find Rogue and beat the shit out of her. The he remembered he had already tried to do that but ended up being the beaten out of shitee, and growled to Jean. “You tell anyone back at the mansion about this and you’re dead...”

Ch.4: A Temporary Truce

Notes: FOH is friends of humanity, a name I believe another author invented but it got stuck in my head as canon – sorry to the original writer!

After reporting back to Professor X about the details of the previous night’s fight (highly edited and showing greatly in The Wolverine's favour. Until he was beaten), Logan staggered to the bathroom, cursing and bumping into furniture on the way. The feeling of a bad hangover was not one Logan had ever experienced before. But after being touched by Rogue twice in one night he felt the two probably not dissimilar; dizziness, nausea, a pounding headache and the feeling that he had been trampled by Sabertooth wearing steel boots several times.
Having performed his morning routines, attempting to shave and generally making a lot of noise, Logan picked up the jeans he had been wearing the night before only to throw them back onto the chair in disgust; the smell of Rogue was all over them and only served to make him angry, reminding him of his defeat. He stomped out of the room to grab some coffee for himself and Jean, musing on exactly what had gone wrong. Reluctantly he allowed himself to admit that he had underestimated Rogue slightly. A treacherous part of his brain added 'greatly' and he growled, causing a small man carrying three cups of hot tea with difficulty to leap into the air, throwing the hot drinks all over his head. The sight of someone else's misery cheered him up a little but not before he made a promise to himself to track Rogue down and find her (maybe accidentally starting a fight that he, of course, would win) and drag her back to Westchester, New York whether she liked it or not.

Contrary to her earlier statement to Cyclops, Rogue was currently weighing up the pros and cons of going with Wolverine and his red headed girlfriend (for that had obviously been what they were going to ask her before Cyclops had pissed her off). The cons were that she would be easier to find by staying in one place, she would be surrounded by annoying school kids, and finally, would have to wear more layers as there were so many more people in this school place that she could possibly suck the life out of. However, after some thought she decided the pros outweighed the cons: somewhere to stay without having to worry about the next motel and real food or fighting FOH all the time; a chance to control her mutation if Cyclops was to be believed, a place where she could consider her options for the future with access to all of this professor’s contacts. There was also the plus that if Eric and the Brotherhood ever decided that letting her go had been a mistake, there were people to cover her back if she decided they were trustworthy enough.
She made a quick check with the memories she had drawn from Wolverine to find out where they were staying, then slung her duffle onto her shoulder and took off from the snowy motel roof she had been sitting on whilst thinking. With a grin she thought of what Wolverine's reaction would be on seeing her arrive at their motel ready to go back with them.

Ten minutes later Rogue landed quietly on the roof of Wolverine's (or rather, 'Logan's’ as she had discovered from her brief glance at what she had drawn from him) room, watching him stomp through the snow in what seemed to be an exceptionally bad mood, carrying two coffees. Shrinking back from the edge of the roof when he stopped, sniffing the air seemingly suspicious, she waited until she heard the door slam before floating down and landing right in front of the door.

With a quick smile and kiss, Logan handed Jean her coffee as she stretched on the bed, hair still mussed from their night of activity, and he sat down next to her. Whilst walking back to their room he could have sworn he had caught Rogue's scent in the air, but decided he was being paranoid and had merely smelt it on himself. So when they heard a knock on the door the next minute, his head shot up and he glared at it suspiciously, then looked at Jean who had immediately done a quick scan of the person outside the door. Shrugging, she said quietly

"It must be Rogue; she's the only person I know of with that many personalities in their head."

He stood up, growling at the door, not caring if Rogue heard him.

"Probably here to gloat."

Wrenching the door open, Logan glared at Rogue, blocking the door and in doing so covering Jean who was climbing out of bed to put a robe on. Unknowingly using the same words as Rogue had done previously he folded his arms, looking down at her.

"Whaddya want, Rogue?"

Rogue smiled up at him sweetly, seeming to ignore the open resentment radiating from Logan.

"Now, sugar, is that any way to talk to your future housemate?"

His mouth dropping open in undisguised surprise, Logan stared at her

"Housemate?"

Sighing, Rogue patted him on the arm condescendingly and in doing so pushed him out of the doorway none-too gently.

"Yes, housemate. But if you don't mind, I'd rather talk to someone who doesn't repeat everything I say."

Standing in front of Jean, she looked her in the eye (although from a few inches below) and crossed her arms, wanting to put across her conditions for coming with them.

"Ok, this is the deal; you agree to the conditions I'm telling you now and I come with you without causing any trouble and we get on as well as can be expected. If you don't, I leave right now and you won't see me again until Eric decides he's going to use me a weapon against you and your x-kiddies, in which case you'll seriously regret refusing me. Understood?"

She felt the light telepathic touch of Jean around the fringes of her mind and glared up at her, mentally shoving her out, making Jean stagger back with a hand to her head.

"And no creeping round in my head without my permission!"

Recovering quickly and waving a dismissive hand at Logan who had moved towards her ready to defend her against Rogue, she nodded curtly.

"Good. I thought you were smarter than claw-boy over there."

Rogue went ahead listing the conditions on her fingers, ignoring Logan's warning growl from his resumed position leaning against the door with his arms crossed, apparently 'relaxed'.

"One, I don't get forced into fighting anyone for anyone, no matter what the circumstances. Two, I don't have to join the X-men even if you all see it as a repayment for your 'kindness'. Three, I have my room away from all the kids; I have enough to deal with, I don't want to have to worry about people touching me all the time. And four, even if I do join the x-men (which I doubt), I don't have to wear one of your stupid, bondage-style, leather jumpsuits. Got it?"

Smiling slightly, Jean nodded.

"Got it. Truce?"

Rogue raised an eyebrow as if thinking it over and gave a small smile

"Temporarily."

Scowling, Logan went round the room picking up his things and throwing them into his bag.

"Well, if the touching peacemaking is over, can we get a move on?"

"Oh really Sugar, lighten up - you got what you came for, me, and from the smell of this room a lot extra from Jean."

Grinning, Rogue walked out of the door with her bag, deciding to wait outside. Not realising she was being a touch hypocritical, she added;

"I think someone has a little attitude problem, hmm?"

Logan gave Rogue's back a particularly vicious growl, hefting his own and Jean's bags onto his back and gave the room a final check to make sure he hadn't left anything; after one mission, he had left one of Chuck's expensive, multi-functional communication devices at a run down old motel. Surprisingly, after that, he'd only been given a regular old cell phone. Having made sure nothing had been left behind, he went out after Rogue, closing the door behind Jean.

A10 minute hike back to the jet in awkward silence was followed by a loud 10 minutes cursing from Logan when they discovered that something, most likely a bear, had run straight into the jet without seeing it and left a large dent in the right hand side.

In an attempt to placate Logan, Jean stroked his arm soothingly as she spoke, but trying at the same time not to be patronising.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure you and Scott will be able to fix it when we get back to the mansion, right?"

Huffing, Logan muttered 'S'pose so' and glared at the huge dent as he opened the door, letting Jean and Rogue go in first the looking round to make sure no one had seen them before getting in himself.

Unbeknownst to the jet’s passengers, a young man with smoked glasses and bright white hair watched them from a distance, atop a pine tree carefully chosen upwind. So, they were back together again after all this time? Well, something would certainly have to be done about that.

Ch.5: Intrusion

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of them...stupid copyright laws...

Descending into the basketball court had been a surreal experience for Rogue; the only memory she had of this school was from Carol, and that had been from an attack with the Brotherhood. With that thought, one of Wolverine’s memories surged to the forefront of her mind unbidden – the same attack she had been thinking of, but from his point of view. Shaking her head to dispel the strange two-way memories, she unbuckled the safety belt she had reluctantly put on (after all, she wasn’t called invulnerable for nothing) and followed Jean out into the underground hanger, staring around the huge space whilst trying not to display any obvious awe as she slung her duffle over her shoulder.

“Jeez, where do all the funds for this place come from? All these invisible planes, secret underground hangars, a whole set of dominatrix costumes...”

Glaring at her, Logan stopped on his way to the showers

“Look kid, we’re taking you in for your own safety and for no charge and on your own conditions, so stop being so damn rude or you’ll find yourself out on your ass with no place to stay.”

“Whatever. But a word of warning; call me kid again and I’ll tell everyone that ‘Bub’ isn’t just a name for other people

Making a clearly disbelieving noise, he looked her up and down then turned, stalking out of the room with a parting ‘See ya round, kid.’

Turning to Jean with an exasperated growl, she waved a hand in the direction he had left in.

“Is he always this damn irritating?! And just what in the hell does ‘pffft’ mean, anyway?”

Jean smiled, going down to the ladies changing area and motioning for Rogue to follow.

“You’ll get used to it after a while, trust me. By the way, if you do ever join us, this is where you’ll get changed for the missions and pickups and so on. That door leads to the main area where the suits are kept and then onto the men’s changing area. Try not to peek too much...Someone will be down in a few minutes to show you around the mansion, and then they’ll take you up to Professor Xavier’s office; I’ll be there in a while.”

Seeing Rogue look around with mild interest, she left her to get showered and changed, glad to be rid of the rather rude and uncultured young woman for a while.

Rogue looked around the room some more, allowing herself a little more interest now that she was alone, but still sneered at the leather suits all hanging up in their glass cases just ready to be worn for another mission. It was all too damn nice.

Everywhere was clean, the leather was in perfect condition except for slits in Logan’s gloves (and she certainly didn’t linger over the case holding Logan’s suit, no siree), and everything was shiny white and chrome.
Before she could continue exploring the main area, she heard an unseen lift ding softly and a door (chrome and shiny of course) in the wall right next to her slid silently sideways to reveal the short, somewhat annoying yellow clad girl that had been in the bar the first time the x-men had visited.

“Afternoon chica. Decided to join us after all, then? I knew sending Wolvie would be a good idea...”

With a knowing grin, Jubilee motioned for Rogue to join her in the lift as she moved aside to make room and pressed a button to take them upwards. Cracking her gum, she held out a bare hand with a smile.

“Name’s Jubilee, but you can call me Jubes.”

Momentarily taken aback by Jubilee’s bravery (or stupidity), Rogue instinctively pulled her gloves up past her wrist before shaking Jubilee’s hand. A quiet voice in the back of her mind asked how long it had been since she had been greeted by a handshake, especially one so brazen.

“Rogue. But I’m sure you already know that.”

Not offering any other name, Rogue turned to the doors so they were stood side by side, Jubilee chattering on about some mall that had the best glove shop. She merely stood in silence, watching the numbers light up one at a time until the lift finally slowed down to a stop and gave another soft ding to signal its arrival in the upper levels.

Taking on the persona of a tour guide, Jubilee stepped out of the lift and faced Rogue, pointing to her left down a corridor.

“This corridor to your right leads to the school kids’ dormitories, bathrooms and a study room. To your left is the entrance hall that leads to the Professors office and more dormitories and the classrooms (we have way too many of the little midgets here for my liking). Up those stairs is the adults’ rooms, mine included, and then some boring stuff like the library. Any questions?”

“Yeah – where am I staying? It had better not be near any of the kids because I swear I’ll end up sucking one of them dry if they make too much noise...”

Unsure if she was kidding or making a serious threat, Jubilee looked at Rogue’s take- no-shit-from-anyone face and decided it was safer to sidestep that one.

“Uh...how about if I just take you to the prof’s office? He can field any other questions you have...”

“Whatever. Just as long as he doesn’t do his little brain-invasion trick – I’ve heard about that from other people and I don’t take kindly to people who enter my head without my permission...” She flashed a grin at Jubilee, even though it may have seemed more like a baring of teeth “...I’m sure you’ve heard of what happened to others who tried that...”

Jubilee, having not believed what she had been told about Rogue before now, suddenly had a particularly graphic image of what someone had told her before the new mutant’s arrival. Apparently a man had been found in a tree with a few more joints than he used to have, several vital things missing and constantly muttering the words ‘don’t touch’ when he was finally revived.

“Oh, don’t worry about that – he’s all polite and stuff so I’m sure he would ask first...that is, if he were going to at all which I don’t think he would...”

Quickly realizing she was digging herself a deeper hole, Jubes wisely decided to zip it, an effect that normally only the Wolverine could induce. Leading Rogue into Xavier’s office, she gave the professor a quick grin and got her yellow covered butt out of there before she said something that ended with her in a tree, throwing Rogue a quick ‘Later, chica...’ as the door closed behind her.

Rogue watched Jubilee go with a small smirk; evidently the rumours had reached Xavier’s School For The Gifted all the way from Canada.

“Seems to me that y’all are dying to get me here, then try to get away from me soon as I arrive...”

“Of course not, they are just...a little wary of having such a powerful new mutant here. Please, take a seat Rogue.”

Making a similar disbelieving noise to Logan’s, she lowered herself into one of the hard, high backed chairs in front of Xavier’s desk with a grace at odds with her uncouth manners. She waited for him to break into the old ‘we need your help...’ routine that everyone else had thrown at her the minute she let her guard down, giving him an apathetic look that she hoped conveyed to him her feelings on what might come next. Instead, he smiled and pushed a cup of tea she hadn’t noticed before her way and leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers.

“I realise you are disbelieving of my claim that we want nothing of you or your powers, that we are merely offering you a safe place to stay; but I assure you our offer is sincere. I hope that in time you will trust us and relax – I may not be able to read your mind but a brief look at the somewhat scant amount of information we had gathered on you shows you haven’t done so in a fair while, moving from place to place...”

Although he did not say it out loud, Xavier privately found himself comparing her to Logan before he had settled with them; a lone wolf who kept to himself and constantly moved on. Perhaps they would be able to persuade Rogue to follow Logan’s example and grow a few roots here.

Glaring at Xavier, she snapped at him.

“My lifestyle is none of your business. So I would be grateful if you kept your nose out of it in case I break it for you...”

Standing up quickly, she made for the door and opened it, fuming that they had been watching her, following her movements.

“Just show me where my damn room is before I leave already. I ain’t staying to chat over a cup of damn tea about how I live my life.”

Realising he had touched on a somewhat sensitive subject, Xavier acquiesced with a nod of his head and mentally called for Jubilee to rejoin them and show Rogue to her quarters.

“I apologise if I have made you uncomfortable but we watched you only for your own good. I feared Eric would use you for his machine again and that it would possibly kill you this time. Perhaps we should have made our actions known.

“Yeah well, it’s a little late for apologies now. Y’all should have though of that before you started prying in other people’s lives.”

Rogue caught the slightly nervous scent of Jubilee waiting just outside the half opened door and wrenched it open to reveal Jubilee’s startled face. She stepped forward quickly, closing the door behind her.

“Just show me where my room is before I drain someone dry...”

Giving Rogue a nervy smile, she hurried down the corridor and up the stairs she had pointed out before, her mind whirring with possibilities of what the Professor had done to make her so mad. Had he tried the brain-thing? She hadn’t been able to see the Prof as Rogue had been standing in the way – maybe he was lying sprawled over his desk with pieces missing like that other guy? Maybe she had turned him into a vegetable as revenge for something? She watched the Rogue snarling and muttering angrily under her breath, then her brain caught up with her as they approached one of the guest rooms on the top floor – duh, the Prof had called her on the brain phone so he clearly wasn’t reduced to a drool machine yet.

“Uh...ok, here’s your room. Logan and Jean’s is just down there...” She pointed to the door just down from and opposite to Rogue’s “...If you need anything, and the dining room is just down the stairs at the end of the corridor and on the right for breakfast in the morning. It’s served right up till about 11 o’ clock so you don’t have to get up early. Oh, and the key to your room should be on the dresser”

Another quick grin and a snap of her gum and she was off before Rogue could lay a hand on her.

Rogue flopped back on her bed fully clothed, letting her eyes close; she had been pacing around her new room, giving it a cursory glance and checking for the quiet buzz that would alert her to the presence of a camera – you couldn’t be too careful with these people. Having satisfied herself that she was in private for now, she figured she should get some sleep at last. She gave a wide yawn and kicked off her shoes, snuggling under the covers. A chance to relax at last...

A sudden cry a minute later from down the hall made her sit up in bed, straining to hear what had caused the disturbance. Her sensitive hearing caught the sound of a quiet moan, clearly Logan and another cry from Jean she now realised. Aw Christ. She flopped back again and covered her head with a pillow for all the good it did...the sounds of those two getting it on down the hall was just what she wanted.

Chapter 6: Mutualism

As Rogue entered the dining room with a smothered yawn, the look of death she shot at Logan and Jean made even the Wolverine wince if only on the inside. After all, he could not let the whole school see a newcomer, and a small grumpy girl one at that, to have such ability. Logan glanced sideways at Jean and smirked to himself – he had noticed Rogue responding to the same distant sounds that he had, which meant that her hearing was just as accurate and sensitive as his. So, in accordance to his own first night ‘welcome’ from Jean and Scott, he had kept Jean awake most of the night in his favourite way, in honour of Rogue’s arrival. And now, after a semi-sleepless night, she could look forward to a day of being introduced to almost every damn person here, with kids coming up to her (most of them being dared by their friends) to ask about her mutation and the crazy stories and rumours that surrounded her. Logan had guessed from their faces that those stories had spread like wild fire through the dormitories, with speculation adding to them like Chinese whispers.

To no one’s surprise, Rogue took an empty table, sitting so she could keep an eye on the door and windows. For the next twenty minutes she simply sipped at the giant mug of coffee she had grabbed and slowly inspected the room and its inhabitants. Exactly what you would expect a boarding school dining room to look like (albeit with the extra smells of singed hair and that cold smell peculiar to ice, along with strange noises and people walking through walls). Why on earth had she agreed to come down here? A building full of noisy children and nosy adults (who could be irritatingly noisy when they chose to be; leaving hairy, growly people completely unnamed), clearly with some kind of plan in mind but pretending to be innocent and helpful. Well, she would simply stay as long as it suited her and then get the hell out the minute they started ‘recruiting’ her.

Draining the last of the admittedly excellent coffee, Rogue ignored the fact the Wolverine’s eyes followed her every movement. She forced herself to dismiss the curious sense of familiarity she felt for the silent man still watching her. That was dangerous territory for all involved, especially if Carol managed to fight her way to the surface again. At that point, Professor Xavier appeared by her side, his wheelchair almost silent on the smooth, wooden floor.

“Ah Rogue, good morning! I trust you slept well in your new room?”

Without waiting for a reply, he carried on, pretending not to notice the dark look Rogue was shooting at Logan.

“I was hoping to introduce you to some of the members of our team and show you around the more interesting areas of the building, would you care to follow me?”

A grunt of agreement as Rogue stood up and moved to stand next to the professor’s chair, again belying a grace that did not fit the rest of her behaviour. Clearly, thought Logan (who was really not watching her that much), there was another layer beneath the ‘hard ass, butch, I- can- take- care -of -myself –and- knock -you –down- anytime’ shell that Rogue had spent so long growing around herself.

“Look, professor…”

Professor Xavier cut her off with a smile

“Please Rogue, we’re living under the same roof now, I would like us to become friends – you can call me Charles.”

“Fine. Charles…I’m really not in the mood for a meet ’n’ greet right now. But I would appreciate it if you could show me a room with a punch bag in so I can release some…tension...and then maybe play ‘new recruit’ afterwards.”

The professor, who had certainly noticed the looks between Logan and Rogue over breakfast, forced himself not to smile too much and nodded.

“Of course, I understand completely – moving to a new home and having to make new friends can certainly be stressful. Allow me to escort you to the training room, and then perhaps chat over a cup of tea in my office afterwards?”

Rogue raised an eyebrow at Charles – that innocent comment about making new friends had sounded suspiciously like a crack at her expense.

“Right. Sounds great.”

As the pair left the dining hall, Logan turned to Jean who had been having an animated discussion on Rogue’s possible future as an X-woman with Ororo, and put a hand on her thigh to catch her attention.

“I’m outta here – gotta work off some steam before the kids stampede the halls and invade my garage. Remind me again - why did I agree to teach mechanics here?”

Jean gave him a wide smile and patted his arm

“Because you love children and want them to be safe in their vehicles and teach them everything you know about engines. Isn’t that right?”

Logan huffed out a laugh and pushed his chair back, gulping the last of his black coffee.

“Yeah, of course, how could I forget…see ya darlin’.”

As he hurried out of the dining hall, trying to work out a way of watching Rogue train without her knowing, he ignored the little voice at the back of his head telling him he was being an ass. No sane man would sneak down to the training rooms to spy on some possibly-evil super-mutant. But then again, who had ever accused him of being completely sane?

Rogue and Charles were stood in the doorway of the training room, Rogue leaning against the door post as gave the room a cursory glance.

“Well Rogue, I leave you here – feel free to use this room whenever you like in the future. I will see you in my office when you’re done.”

The professor gave her a brief smile then turned and wheeled away. Rogue turned to scan the room – all the usual gym equipment up here at the front, although devoid of any users at the moment. Behind the machines at the far end of the room held the items more to Rogue’s interest – two punching bags, some sparring gear and some free weights. A glance to the ceiling made Rogue’s lips twitch into a tiny smile – the bags weren’t on the usual hooks but instead had been chained to a reinforced ceiling panel. Mutant-friendly training equipment. Whilst the room was empty, Rogue felt comfortable enough to remove all her extra layers on top; sweater, scarf and ever-present gloves, so she was left in tank top and sweat pants. A few quick stretches and she attacked the bag with a fevered flurry of uncontrolled kicks and punches.

The Wolverine watched from the small, dark security room a few doors down from the gym, on the pretense, should anyone ask, that he was checking the mansion for any security risks. As he stared at the black and white monitor, Rogue continued to kick, punch, spin, leap and generally beat the crap out of the two punch bags, using them both to simulate a double attack. And seeing her dressed in comparatively little made his head go very quiet and focus on watching that lithe body whirl between punch bags.

Jesus, now he was waxing poetic over her? Logan shook his head and leaned over to switch the screen off, leaving the room to find something that would take his mind off the maddeningly annoying, intriguingly familiar, young woman.

Two hours later, Rogue leaned her forehead against the tiled wall of the shower; her palms pressed to the wall above her head, and let the scalding water pound her shoulders to ease the ache from her intense workout. She just hadn’t been able to relax, not able to shake off the feeling she was being watched – perhaps it was merely the normal wariness she felt at being amongst such strange, happy and relaxed people. In the current political climate, that simply wasn’t possible for her any more.

She sighed and rolled her shoulders, turning the water off – she couldn’t put off this meeting with Xavier forever; might as well get it over and done with. Ten minutes later Rogue was making her way back down to the main levels as she twisted her wet hair into a knot, ignoring the quiet scuffles as students tried to get out of her way. Clearly being here even for a short while had affected her – usually she liked to growl quietly and menacingly at people who showed such obvious fear, just to keep up her reputation. Enjoying the looks on their faces didn’t come into it at all of course…

Chapter Seven: A Glimpse

Professor Xavier looked up from the notes in front of him and automatically opened his mind to the person outside his door; a riot of personalities assaulted his senses, none of them clear enough to get a reading and all of them melding together underneath to give him an unequivocal ‘push’ out. Well, he only knew one mutant with a mind like that.

“Please, come in Rogue.”

The young woman entered with an air of tired apathy; her wet hair pulled away from her face made her look drawn and weary. Why had he not noticed this when he had seen her previously? Perhaps it was her angry, dangerous attitude that made you see only the things she wanted you to see, instead of the truth; a lonely young woman with a troubled past that had tainted her future. A thought occurred to the professor: maybe if she had let down her physical barriers, she would be more open mentally to a discussion about her past.

Xavier smiled and gestured to the chair in front of him for her to sit. He had already arranged for a more comfortable seat to temporarily replace the usual wooden seats he kept, hoping it would help Rogue to relax.

“I hope you enjoyed using our training room, Rogue?”

Rogue shrugged, her guarded expression not changing.

“It was fine. Thanks. What didya want to talk about?”

“Firstly I would like to reiterate what I told you yesterday – you are not here to be drafted into the X-men or to aid us in any way that you do not wish. I simply want to help you.”

A raised eyebrow was his only reply, but even this gave him a little hope – quiet stoicism was better than rage.

“But I thought perhaps we could talk a little about your past, since this would help you to plan your future.”

Rogue shifted a little in her seat; she had noticed the change from hard wooden chair to soft, green leather wingback. She curled her legs under her, staring at him unblinking as she thought. During her sleepless night she had contemplated what she would do during her stay, deciding that to show them the perpetual river of rage she swam in would gain her nothing. These people were ‘nice’ and didn’t tend to respond positively to being shown a glimpse of what it was like to live in the real world. No, instead she would be calm (or as calm as she could be) and relatively polite, get as much information as she could out of baldy and then continue in her search for revenge.

Maybe it was sheer exhaustion that made Rogue change her attitude, from the constant wandering, fighting and half-sleep that made up her existence. Judging by the wheel chair Xavier wasn’t in any position to fight her physically if things degraded that far and her mind was far too complex and bursting with personalities; any telepath trying to invade without her permission would get only a migraine for their efforts (and a punch in the face). She had judged her situation carefully and decided that it wouldn’t do any harm to share the meager information she had on her past.

“If you hafta know, there ain’t much to talk about. I can only remember about ten years back. I reckon I’m about twenty five, far as I can tell. Don’t know who did it or why. Just woke up in a field in Japanese country side, naked as the day I was born and knowin’ about as much. That good enough for ya?”

The professor raised his eyebrows in surprise; he had had no idea her story was so close to their own Wolverine’s. The usual format of ‘regaining consciousness in the wilderness, no clothes, and no memory’ had come to be linked with shady government experiments terminated abruptly.

“Rogue, I had no idea. I’m so sorry to hear that. But you should know; it’s not the first time I’ve heard of occurrences similar to this. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind me telling you this, but Logan went through an experience just like yours, only he found himself in Canada.”

Xavier hesitated, praying his suggestion did not result in a reaction like yesterdays. However, her child-like posture, curled up in her seat, suggested a subtle change in attitude that could well indicate a willingness to co-operate.

“Logan managed to discover much about his past and how he came to be in his current circumstances through a few sessions of meditation whilst I worked with him in lifting the mental barriers…”

The young woman in front of him reacted visibly, although not as violently as he had imagined; her whole body stiffened and her eyes narrowed.

“You want ta poke through my memories, invade my privacy, and get me to let my guard down. How did I know it would come to this?”

“No, not all Rogue – you would be in complete control of the situation, guiding me through your memories and simply letting me help you to work through those that have been hidden from you all these years. I promise you, nothing will happen in this house that you do not want to.”

Again, her reaction surprised him in its lack of anger; she seemed to think about what he had said, seriously considering him through shadowed, weary eyes that belied a lifetime of pain and misery. This was clearly a woman who was not just angry and ‘misunderstood’. Being a telepath had trained him to see beyond what someone wanted him to see and to glimpse a hint of the reality beneath; in Rogue’s case she had simply seen too much and to shield herself against it had become hardened and mistrustful.

“You won’t find much, I’ll tell ya that for free. You think I ain’t tried everything I could think of? Those memories just ain’t there any more. But…”

A pause, as if steeling herself in her resolution to cooperate. This could be her only way of finding out something.

“…if you don’t believe me, take a look.”

The professor smiled encouragingly and sat back in his chair, settling himself as he prepared to enter her mind.

“Thank you Rogue – I know how much this goes against your instincts and you won’t regret putting your trust in me.”

Rogue merely gazed at him, her limbs tense as she waited for him to march into her mind.

It started with the sensation of someone politely standing at the front door, waiting to be let it. She made herself relax the smallest amount, inviting him in. Immediately the full presence of Professor Xavier made himself known throughout her head; moving about here and there as he glanced through the memories she made available for him.

…Waking up into sweltering humidity, staggering through a field of startled farm workers in nothing but her own skin, growling at the closest female and snatching at the loose tunic she wore. The woman screamed as the apparition made off into the distance, newly clothed, groggily trying to assess the situation; where was this, what had happened, who was this? No name came to mind, a head emptied of everything…

The scene switched abruptly into one that had occurred only a short time after the first.

…The newly named Rogue, crouched in the corner of a dingy police cell, desperately trying to assimilate the new, kicking, screaming personality alongside her own; a young man she had touched the arm of, trying to stop him from attacking her. Suddenly it had felt like her whole head was opening up, drawing him in whole as her skin burned where it touched his. What was happening? Why was her mind rapidly filling up with Japanese, with unfamiliar memories, with his panic and fears making hers escalate?...

Xavier clutched the arms of his wheelchair, attempting to sort through the sudden vortex of experiences that she had presented him with, feeling the multiple personalities crowding in the background against mental steel bars that separated them from Rogue. How could someone live like this and not go insane? His unasked question caused images of a screaming young woman, tearing at her hair while she stumbled around an empty room, to appear.

Her quiet, satisfied voice inside his head caused the images to fade back. A part of the professors mind registered surprise at the difference in this calm, well-spoken tone to the normal harsh, uncultured attitude she presented to the outside world.

:: Do you believe me now? There is nothing here that is of any use, I have followed what few leads there were into dead ends.::

Xavier did not reply, centering himself in the midst of her thoughts as he pressed gently against the edges – he could feel something amongst the chaos, something that did not belong there. Delving further he stopped suddenly: a cool, blank wall met his efforts, an unnatural barrier that did not have Rogue’s presence on it. It gave off the feeling of polite refusal, gently turning him away and preventing further passage.

::Rogue, what is this?::

::I…I don’t know…I’ve never felt that before…what is it?::

Her voice was suddenly panicked at this new, unfamiliar feeling in her mind; why had she never found this before? Hours of patient meditation had resulted in nothing, how had he found this in just a few short minutes of searching?

::I’m not sure Rogue, it does not feel like a product of your own mind. I’m going to try and press it away, please brace yourself; it may feel strange and unpleasant, but this is an extremely important discovery.::

Leaning his considerable telepathic influence against the ‘wall’, Xavier concentrated on seeing the barrier dissipate, allowing what was behind it to be released.

Gasping, Rogue cringed in her seat, her whole body closing in on itself.

The sounds of desperate screaming filtered through the Professors concentration, and he hurriedly pulled back out through her mind. As Xavier fell back into his own mind, he realised the screams were coming from Rogue, her eyes tightly shut and hands over her ears as if to stop the agony of the telepathic invasion. Almost as soon as he retreated, the screaming stopped and she opened her eyes, scrambling out of her chair and stumbling towards the door.

“I knew it, as soon as I let my guard down, you attack me! I’m so damn stupid, every time I think it’s gonna be different, that I could let someone in…”

As she yanked open the door there was a flash of metal, Wolverine’s claws forcing Rogue to back into the room again.

“What in the hell is goin’ on here? Half the kids out there are near pissin’ themselves with fright from all the screamin’! Chuck, she do something to you?”
Having barely recovered from the shock of Rogue’s mental ‘secret room’, the evident pain it caused and her sudden attempt to exit, Charles stared at Rogue.

“No, no, of course not – please Logan, lower your hands, there is no need for violence here. I was merely attempting to help Rogue go through some memories, when we encountered…”

Here he trailed off, still staring at her in bewilderment. This was not something that usually happened when one entered someone else’s memories – there were the cluttered remains of small happenings of the recent past, brightly coloured vivid memories, dark clouds of painful emotions and sometimes deliberate blocks of things people didn’t want to think about. But never had he come across something so…man-made, so clinical and yet that the bearer was completely unaware of. Clearly Rogue had been through something or born witness to an event that powerful people did not want her to know about.

“…well, to be perfectly honest, I have no idea what it was we found. You have my most sincere apologies Rogue, I had no idea this would cause you so much pain.”

Rogue was still facing Wolverine, her eyes wide and red-rimmed, face pale and breathing fast and shallow. Her lip curled in a silent growl, warning the man in front of her to move out of her path, as her hand moved deliberately to the wrist of her right glove – a clear signal.

“Then what the fuck were you doing in there? One minute everythin’s normal, next you’re pushing through my head and it felt like you were using a knife to get there. Why did I even let you in?!”

At this last frustrated exclamation, she pushed past Logan and out through the door. She swung round, pausing only to aim a kick at the back of his knee and so causing him to half-collapse on the ground, giving her time to escape.

Ch. 8: Fight or Flight?

As Rogue fled from Xavier’s office, she scattered terrified students in her wake like a cat through pigeons. The ‘flight’ reaction was so strong she didn’t even notice some of them brushing against her body; the only thought in her head was to reach open skies where no one could catch her. A few seconds of sprinting had brought Rogue to the end of the corridor with stairs going up and down on the left and right sides and the chrome elevator in front of her. God damned, why hadn’t she taken the tour with the chattering girl when she had the chance? She had no idea where the stairs going downwards went but the elevator was not an option: being trapped in a box and then being underground with an unknown cache of weapons and instruments was not an ideal escape route.

Half a second to decide on left or right and she was running again, crashing through the door to the left side stairwell and using one hand to vault herself over the railing to drop through the open centre, getting brief glimpses of shocked children’s faces on the encircling stairs. Two floors, 3 seconds and she hit the marble floor of the ground floor, already in her usual posture; crouched with one hand on the floor to balance, one leg stretched straight, the other hand ripped free of cover with her teeth and held out ready to attack. Gasping a little as adrenalin rushed through her veins, Rogue glanced around at the main entrance hall she had landed in. There! Two huge doors lay invitingly open 50 yards away, blue skies visible beyond. She sprang to her feet, using the momentum to gain air as she flew towards freedom. Closer and closer, almost free, then a crash and surprised shrieks from the stairways behind her; Logan had taken the same exit she had, barely taking a moment to recover from his less than graceful landing before rolling to his feet and taking a running leap at Rogue.

The time it took her to look behind and realise how close the Wolverine was gave him the opportunity to leap on her back, tackling her to the ground. Rogue screamed in frustration, rolling over and over, trying to shake Logan off and simultaneously reach behind her head to find his bare skin.

Determined not to let her win this time, Logan had wrapped his arms and legs around Rogue’s body, tucking his face into her damp hair that had unravelled from its hasty knot to protect his bare face. Using the sheer weight of his adamantium-enhanced body, he managed to wrangle her face down to the floor, her cheek pressed to the cold marble, his nose still tucked into the back of her neck. Logan took a few deep breaths, trying to figure out what his next move was going to be, then froze. That scent, so fresh and clear from her shower and far away from the overwhelming mix of smells from bar cages, reached something deep inside him. He took another deep breath, drawing as much of her scent as he could; it tore through his conscious mind, kicking a visceral reaction to life that had long lain dormant. Not understanding why or even caring why, Logan knew that scent as the most important thing he had ever breathed in. It was something to protect at all costs; to defend against all and to know it belonged to him like nothing and no one else ever could. In a split second Rogue had turned from a stranger that he mistrusted to his eternal mate; someone to protect, love, who made him feel so secure and safe that he could let his guards down finally. A burning, shocking pain at his temple startled him out of the newly discovered knowledge; Rogue’s groping hand had reached bare skin at last.

With her bare fingers pressed lightly to the Wolverine’s temple, she closed her eyes and kept contact until she felt his grip loosen and scrambled out from underneath his limp body. The new memories she had drawn from him were so different and confusing and yet so powerful she stumbled to the wall and slid down, hands over her eyes trying to assimilate all the information. She felt the animal-like reaction he had experienced to her scent, ran through the same gauntlet of overwhelming protective instincts and knew how he would be feeling when he came around: turned on, confused and angry.

Logan groaned and lifted his forehead, recognising the bone-deep ache as yet another defeat at the delicate hands of Rogue. The memory of that fragrance still lingered in his mind and fuelled the confusion of emotions; a fierce need to protect warred with unbridled lust, overridden with anger. He rolled onto his back, sitting up to stare at her.

“What the fuck was that? Who the hell are you?”

Before Rogue could answer, the elevator gave a soft ding and the door slid open. Jean stormed into the hallway looking furious with a calm Xavier following behind.

“Just who do you think you are Rogue?! There are dozens of children here that are now absolutely terrified and worked up into a state, losing control of their powers all over each other just because you can’t control yourself! Do you think just because you’re the big, bad Rogue that you can charge through a school without regard for their safety? You don’t even have both gloves on!”

At this last furious exclamation, Rogue got to her feet in one smooth motion and reached threateningly towards Jean with her bare hand. All of the Wolverine’s emotions were mixing with her own, making it hard to concentrate, especially over the scent of Logan’s lust and anger creating a potent cocktail in the air.

“You stay the hell away from me, both of you. You think just because you’re telepaths that you know everythin’ about me? Back the fuck off!”

Whilst Jean and Rogue were yelling at each other, Logan got to his feet staggering a little as he moved in between them. Without even thinking about his motives, he stood with his back to Rogue and glowered at Jean, one arm held out to the side as if to shield Rogue from the two telepaths.

Xavier used the stunned silence to move forward and attempt to control the situation.

“Please, if everybody could just calm down for a moment, I’m sure we can sort out the misunderstanding. Jean, I know you’re very protective of the children but I’m afraid I did rather provoke Rogue’s reaction, she is not to blame for trying to escape a perceived attack.”

The professor turned to Logan, ignoring look of Jean’s outrage.

“Logan please move away from Rogue; no one is going to be fighting now.”

Although he remained where he was, Logan dropped his arm and relaxed minutely. His brow furrowed, he stared at Jean, as if trying to decide if she was friend or enemy.

Rogue took a step back, still staying behind Logan and glancing at the exit. Now that the rush of adrenalin-fuelled escape had started to fade and Logan’s new influx of memories was still swirling in her mind, she seemed undecided about her next course of action.

Xavier saw the indecision on her face and used to opportunity to regain the advantage.

“Rogue, you have my deepest apologies, this was by no means an attempt to trick you into trusting us. I have your best interests at heart; I truly want to help you. I also apologise on Logan’s behalf, I’m afraid your running away merely triggered an instinct to chase in the Wolverine.”

At this the Professor gave her a small smile, attempting calm her and make light of the desperate escape attempt.

“Perhaps we should leave further conversation for the day, allow you to settle in properly and explore the mansion. I’m sure you would feel safer if you knew your way around and it would also allow the students to see that we trust you to be in our home.”

Rogue finally took her gaze away from Jean to look into Xavier’s face, trying to judge his sincerity. The unsaid hint that she was forgiven for scaring the students was not lost on her, despite Jean’s eyes narrowing at the Professor for letting her off so lightly; she could not let it lie. Jean’s anger at Rogue’s dash through the school and then Logan suddenly turning against her to protect a stranger made her speak without thinking.

“Charles, surely you can’t be suggesting that she be able to continue scaring the children after that show, she clearly can’t be allowed to be unsupervised around them whilst she is so out of control. What if she touched one of them with a bare hand just for looking at her in the wrong way?”

Rogue went utterly still, her eyes turning cold as she stared at Jean from behind Logan. She may have been a badass who doled out punishment for the slightest infraction, but she wasn’t a monster.

“I don’t touch kids. Not now, not ever. They’re innocent; they shouldn’t be dragged into anyone’s mess.”

Without looking at Logan or acknowledging his protection, she stepped around him carefully to stand in front of Xavier’s chair.

“If you try and force your way through my head like that again, I’m outta here, got it? I ain’t sticking around for pain just for the hell of it.”


She paused, staring down at Xavier with a slight frown on her face, contemplating her next words.

“I need more information on the bastards who wiped my head clean, I don’t care who I get it from. This ain’t me agreeing to be best buddies with y’all, you got it?”

Professor Xavier gave her a genuine smile and nodded his head in acquiescence.

“I understand your feelings towards us and I will not be pressuring you to become my newest team member, you have my word. Now perhaps everyone would like to retire for a few hours to allow this charged atmosphere to dissipate? I am sure Rogue and I will have another chat tomorrow and we can arrange a satisfactory timetable.”

Seeing that she was being ignored by everyone and feeling outraged that no one was chastising Rogue for such a ridiculous show of attitude, Jean stormed off in the direction of her private lab in the proverbial huff. She gave Logan one last glare that let him know he was in the doghouse for his behaviour and disappeared down the stairwell.

A brief moment of silence followed Jean’s angry exit before Rogue nodded stone-faced at the Professor and walked away, refusing to admit to anyone that she had no idea where her room was. With the fresh hit of Logan in her head, she would simply follow her own scent back the way she had come until she found her way. His strange reaction to her was stuffed down into a box in her head to be carefully analysed later when she was far away from his own attractive scent of lust and anger.

Chapter 9: Actions speak louder than words


Scent, emotions, image, one after the other at dizzying speeds as Rogue tried to organise all the new information from the latest Wolverine ‘download’ into something that made sense. She had been sat in the middle of her bed for over an hour already, trying create order out of such a confusing reaction. The Wolverine’s uncertainty over his own reaction certainly didn’t help her understanding along either. Somehow it seemed as if the explanation behind the Wolverine’s reaction was hidden from him, in the same way that her own history was hidden behind a strange partition in the mess of her brain. Did this mean they had a past in common somehow, or was it just the same technique applied by different shady groups?


Rogue sat in the middle of her bed, hands wrapped around her knees, her whole body radiating tension. Usually meditation was enough to organize a new collection of memories and to calm herself down after the stress of the precipitating ‘touch incident’. More than an hour spent meditating on a very short burst of thoughts and she was no further in understanding it. Rogue refused to acknowledge that part of the reason she was having trouble processing this new information was that it affected her more that she would admit to even herself, that having his primal thoughts in her head was...right, somehow. So the answer was to stuff it away and not think about it until she was far away enough from Wolverine to be certain she was not going to act on it.


As if conjured by the power of intense reverie, Rogue sensed Wolverine nearby. His power was already fading from her system, but there was enough left to know that he was outside her door. She could faintly hear his heart beating steadily, but slightly faster than normal. Did that mean he was going to attack or that he was still feeling the effects of their encounter? And his scent, she couldn’t ferret any details out other than the certainty he was on the other side of her door.


Wolverine and Rogue stood on either side of the wooden door; neither prepared to initiate the conversation that they knew was inevitable, yet neither one was prepared to back down yet. A yard away from each other, nerves twanging as if the mere physical presence of one another was enough to bring every cell to attention. A sigh finally came from Wolverine’s side of the door, followed by the soft sound of his movement away from the door. This sign of his defeat in their contest of wills forced Rogue’s hand to wrench open the door and stand in the entrance, every fibre of her being wiling her to reach for him, hold him close and not let go. The only outward sign of this overwhelming urge was a hand reached out to him, a quiet “wait”.


Logan turned, having only managed two steps before he heard the doorknob turning and Rogue stepped through the door as if she were rushing to stop him. He would have been able to walk away if she hadn’t reached for him, her pose almost the same as most of their previous encounters, except for the clear intent. Her eyes were wide, lips parted slightly as if about to speak and a waft of that tantalising aroma. The word ‘wait’ had barely passed her lips before Logan had crossed the short distance between them and halted an inch away from her, a fierce expression of desperation on his face. His bare hand hovered over her cheek, a hair’s breadth from touching, his body almost vibrating with tension as he moved his hand around the outline of her face, down her neck to finally come to rest in a fist by his side to resist temptation.


Their breath mingled as they stood opposite one another, so close to touching and yet both unwilling to cross the line from enemy into the unknown. Breathing quickly and shallowly, Rogue stared up at him, fighting every instinct to lean into his hand and press herself against the length of his body. She argued with herself that this was far from a normal reaction, she never connected with anyone, she was alone in the world and that was the way things would stay. But to have him so close, almost drowning in his presence, made it difficult to reason well. Her hand reached up of its own accord again, the lightest brush of her bare fingers against his whisker-protected cheek and his eyes squeezed tightly closed to savour the touch. At long last it was Rogue who broke the silence, somehow breaking the tension at the same time.


“Logan...”


His eyes opened and she dropped her hand, taking a step back so she could breathe and attempt to think more clearly. This was the first time she had ever used his real name to address him face to face and he knew this held huge significance. Before she could ruin the moment by giving in to the human need to explain and over-analyse everything, he decided to take action. Logan stepped forward, crowding her again with his sheer physicality and buying himself time.


“Don’t move away from me, you know there’s somethin' here. I ain’t ever felt somethin’ like that before and I’m damn sure you ain’t by the look on your face. This is real and I’m goin’ to find out what’s goin’ on, even if Chuck hasta get involved. You really wanna let this pass you by without findin’ out why?”


Moving slowly so as not to startle her away from him, Logan wrapped his fingers around a lock of her hair, keeping his eyes fixed on hers as he lifted it to his nose, taking a deep breath and inhaling every molecule of scent he could. The same instant feelings rose up again, less overwhelming because they were expected, but no less powerful.


Later he would blame his actions on insanity brought on by too much of her scent overwhelming his common sense, but secretly he didn’t regret a moment. Leaning in, his hand still wrapped possessively in her hair, he pressed his lips to Rogue’s as lightly and gently as he could. For one second it went exactly as he planned; all the thoughts associated with her scent were at the forefront of his mind and he focused on passing those to her somehow, hoping her skin worked the way he had assumed. Then, like a match to touch paper, his reaction was ignited in Rogue and he didn’t care about the reaction or scent anymore. Her hands entwined in his hair, every inch of her body plastered against him, lips pressed to his as if he were oxygen and she a drowning woman.


Even as he felt himself draining into her, he clung to her, arm around her waist and hand anchored in her hair, conscious thought a forgotten thing. Nothing mattered, only the feel of her body under his hand and the taste of her on his tongue. A moment to rejoice in finally laying claim to his mate and then nothing.


Rogue gasped and pushed Logan away, drawing in deep breaths to steady herself as Logan fell into the hall unconscious. She pressed her palms to her forehead; her eyes squeezed shut as she fought for control over her mind, to push Logan’s overpowering presence into his own corner of her brain. It took Rogue every ounce of control to stand away from him and attempt to calm her hormones along with her emotions, trying to find common sense again. It seemed that without an adrenalin-filled fight leading up to a close encounter, Logan’s visceral reaction to her presence translated into overwhelming need for intimate contact. In some part of her brain, Rogue felt Logan’s presence, pleased that he had finally imprinted his scent all over her and that she had done the same to him.


Rogue kneeled down so she was by Logan’s feet, her finger’s brushing against her lips absently as she stared at him. When was the last time anyone had kissed her, willingly touched her bare skin? Her lips tingled slightly from their fierce kiss and she allowed a small smile to escape. When he was conscious again she would give him hell for his behaviour and allow her anger at his presumption to make itself known, but for now she revelled in the memory, determined to savour every micro-second of contact.