Walking into the study Logan noted two things right off the bat; first was his sense of smell hadn't tricked him and second it was closer to midnight than it was to dinner time and several members of the junior team were sitting up drinking with none other than Mister Rules himself, Scott Summers.

"Hey Logan," Bobby's voice had him flinching slightly but he moved toward the small group of men and boys that sat clustered around the coffee table holding drinks and talking.

"Ice Prick," Logan grunted reaching for the bottle of bourbon and pouring himself a straight shot before settling into his usual chair and staring at the congregated men. "What are you up to?"

"Now would we be up to something?" Bobby laughed slightly, a sure sign he was closer to drunk than sober.

"Yes, you been sitting in here since after dinner with the door closed, and you reek of alcohol.."

"You should have joined us," Scott drawled slowly. "We've been discussing women."

Logan laughed at that and studied his teammates. "Women? Why?"

"Curiosity. See someone wanted to know what the perfect woman was," Scott paused and frowned. "Come to think of it, I probably know what your perfect woman would be like."

"Really?" Logan snarled, his body tensing. "Educate me."

"Tall, gorgeous, and a red-head."

With a pitying shake of his head Logan smirked, "Nope."

"Oh come on Logan. We've all seen how you looked at Jean..er...Dr. Grey," St. John laughed and eyed the older man easily. Unlike Bobby, he wasn't terrified of the man, regardless of what he could do, he did however, hold a healthy respect for him.

"How I looked at Jeannie?" Logan shrugged. "I look at half the population like that boys. It's called checkin' shape. And I ain't the only one that does it." Logan glanced pointedly at Remy and a couple of the others as he said it before shrugging the comment off.

"Oh really? Den why not tell us what your perfect Chere would be like?" Remy drawled taking a slow sip of his whiskey. "Remy mean since you seemed to have a different.."

Logan shrugged and took another drink of his liquor, "What do you wanna know?"

"What would your perfect woman be like?" Scott shot back.

With a slight smirk Logan leaned back in his chair, his mind wandering to the woman of his dreams. He'd kept his opinions to himself now for four years, watching, waiting, letting her grow and it was working. They were closer than ever, and he wouldn't change a thing. "Ageless, she looks young but inside she's not. There's a touch of innocence in her eyes that draws you in, but it hides the truth from everyone. Young yes, innocuous, not so much anymore."

"She's got the brains to go with her looks and she's a walking, talking sin. Can make a man beg without even trying. She'll get what she wants, what she needs from you without you even knowing it and leave you wondering how she managed it long after she's gone. Killer legs," Logan smiled at the pun no one seemed to catch before continuing, "Enough curves to be considered dangerous.."

"Well that's half the women in this mansion."

"No, she's not. She's different, got an edge to her. She knows her way around any situation, any problem. You could toss her into a fight and she'd come out on top wondering how to kick yer ass for wrinklin' her blouse even after she's stomped you into the ground for fighting with her. She walks into a room and men's heads turn, the way she moves is poetry in motion. Kinda like a smooth shot of bourbon. Goes down real easy but you gotta be careful with it cause the pain of a hangover kills ya. Sin in leather." Logan said holding up his glass and studying the amber contents.

"Come on Logan, a little more details than that," Bobby drawled raising his glass which was now empty. "Details like hair color, eyes, you know the big stuff.."

Logan laughed uproariously at that and took another drink from the glass, draining it in one swallow before reaching for his cigar and lighting it, "Dark hair, dark eyes that haunt ya, that draw you in and before you know it you're hooked. Eyes that have seen too much, yet they still hold the softest whisper of naivete. One look and suddenly you're an addict, you'd kill for her, or at least rearrange someone's face just to have her look yer way. She smiles and suddenly the only thought you've got is how the hell did I get this lucky to get that? And she ain't scared, not of anything or anyone. She's got more guts than brains, has since I met her, and there are times when its frustrating to the extreme - especially when you know the risks better than she does but she just does it anyway."

"Well she'd fit well with de Wolverine," Remy drawled. "Cause you be the same way!"

"Shut up Frenchy," Logan ground out just as a soft knock echoed in the room and the men glanced at the doorway to see a slim woman wrapped in a blanket standing there. "Hey darlin', you're up late," Logan smiled easily at her as she shrugged, his eyes taking in the haunted look in her eyes, the slight tremble in her hands, the way she was chewing her lip and knowing that she'd been driven from her rest.

A soft nod and she padded into the room, bypassing Bobby completely and settling right into Logan's lap, her breath ragged. "Mmhmm.."

"Nightmare?"

"Yeah," the soft whisper drew a slight frown from Logan. "Just couldn't shake it y'know?"

"Yeah kid, I know," Logan said pulling her tighter into his warmth. "It's okay now, go back to sleep," In a move as old as their association, he hugged her tightly, his chin resting on her crown as she squirmed in his lap, getting comfortable, obtaining the most comfortable position.

"You're the best sugah," the sleepy whisper drew a grin.

"So I've been told," Logan chuckled and Rogue groaned softly before pulling the blanket up around her and tucking her feet under his thigh so she was draped over and under him, a common position when she had a nightmare. With a soft sigh that no one noticed, Logan shifted, pulling her closer even as his mind began to wander, the nightmare had to have been one of her own.

The blanket wrapped around her was off his bed, and still she'd come to find him, something that was never a good sign. She'd told him once about her nightmares and it had made him go cold, she'd seen way too much in her time on the road and it amazed him that she was still so warm and caring. He knew if he'd seen girls her age being raped and murdered he'd have curled into a ball and died. Not for the first time he said a prayer of thanks for her mutation and the way it had kept her safe and relatively untouched on the road until she'd become his.

"You gonna finish?" Bobby asked a bit forced, his eyes on his girlfriend - a girlfriend that had been wanting to talk to him for two days and he just knew what she was going to tell him. Somehow though, he couldn't bring himself to feel anything but a touch sad, a lot of acceptance. Part of him had known even when they began dating that she was borrowed, that her heart, her soul belonged to another and he would never be able to change that.

"Where was I?"

"She's got more guts than brains," Scott replied softly.

With a nod Logan shifted, getting more comfortable and pulling Rogue a little tighter at the same time. "Yeah, and she knows it to. Knows what it means to have that courage, knows how to fight the good one but she's not so stuck up that she can't give a hand to help someone up. Gives with all her heart, and she's got a good one. Don't make snap judgements either. With her if she thinks you're worthy then she's gonna treat ya like it."

"Ever been on a mission?" Bobby asked softly hearing Rogue sigh in her sleep and curl closer to Logan, one hand wrapping in the flannel shirt he wore the other wrapped around his wrist, holding onto him for dear life.

Logan smiled softly, one eyebrow climbing in his usual smirked expression. Had she ever been on a mission? Time was she'd been a mission, one that had nearly killed him, not that he complained, or would ever complain. Instead he'd thanked God that they'd had their gifts, that his could heal her, that she could take something from him. 'Cause he got to her in time and thus he'd been able to go on breathing. Losing her would have killed him 'cause even then he had realized just how deeply his emotions had run even if he hadn't been willing to admit it. "Yeah she's seen a few."

"I guess who it be," Remy smirked, behind his glass his red and black eyes darting to the woman in Logan's lap. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Logan cared about Rogue; any man with eyes could clearly see it. He wondered if the others had picked up on it? If anyone else had seen the possessive way Logan held her, the easy way he let her settle on him, his chin resting on her hair? Or the slight relaxing of muscles in Logan's big body that told of him being at ease for the first time in days.

Remy hadn't seen Logan looking that tolerant or that relaxed in ages; the only other time he'd seen it had been when Rogue and Logan'd gone out to see some movie and have a break from the other kids around the mansion. They'd come crawling in at four with muted snickers, acting for all intents and purposes like a pair of kids sneaking in from a night of partying. The fact that Rogue had been gloveless hadn't escaped his notice either!

"It ain't Jeannie," Logan grunted shifting in the chair easily. He loved someone but it sure as shit wasn't Dr Jean Grey! Inhaling he breathed in the scent of Marie, glad that she'd managed to find some sleep. Despite what everyone thought, her nightmares weren't all about him in a lab, she dreamt that metal twisting prick's dreams, along with Fire Boy's and that boy she'd kissed back in Meridian. It was rare that her nightmares were her own - and tonight, well tonight had been one of her own. Of that he was certain.

"Dis Cajun know that," Remy smirked and rose gracefully. "Remy's tinkin' it be time for bed for dis boy. `Night everyone."

"Oh come on Remy, don't you want to know if you're right?" St. John asked with a sly grin.

With a glance at Logan, the young Cajun shrugged, "You'd have to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to see what's right in front of ya. Now Remy may be dumb, but he ain't deaf nor blind. 'Night."

Bobby frowned and glanced at Logan who'd stretched out his feet and was watching them with a secretive smirk. "Okay I give up."

"Keep thinking on it," Scott drawled past a yawn. "Long day tomorrow. 'Night boys."

"'Night Scooter," Logan said gathering Rogue against him as he rose to his feet and started toward the doorway, bed was where she belonged not curled into a small arm chair.

"Come on Logan, you gotta tell us.." Bobby said as the man in question shook his head and disappeared into the darkened hallway with his girlfriend wrapped tightly in his arms.

"I'd lay money that it's Rogue," St. John yawned before downing his drink. "They've been together for so long.."

"How much?" Peter asked quickly.

"Twenty bucks.

"That's easy money Johnny boy," Scott grinned at the young men. "'Cause she's the only one he's ever been nice to."

"Yeah," Bobby sighed. "Probably why she's been dying to talk to me lately."

"Relax Bobby," St. John drawled and slapped the other man on the shoulder. "At least you can say you dated her."

"Fuck off!"

Laughing at the words, Scott shook his head and patted the young man on the shoulder. "Relax old boy, it ain't like he's stealin' her. She was always going to be his. I think we all knew that way back when we first met both of `em. She was the first one he asked about, and the last one to see him. Can't have everything there Bobby, not anymore anyway."

Long after the others had disappeared Bobby sat in the semi-darkness and stared at the overstuffed chair Logan had been in. Rising to his feet he headed for the stairs. He had something to say to Logan and he wasn't going to be put off!

Knocking softly on Logan's door, aware the other man would hear it and respond, he waited impatiently for it to be opened. The familiar lump under the covers had him smiling sadly to himself. As was typical, Rogue sought out Logan in times of stress and sorrow - that had been the biggest clue.

"Yeah?" Logan grunted angrily at Bobby.

Bobby took a deep breath and stared at Logan for a moment. "She's always been the one for you. Even when we were kids it was always going to be you. I guess I just didn't want to admit that. Tonight I saw exactly what I had tried not to see. Loving her is easy Logan, let her love you back. And make her happy or I'll freeze your metallic ass and use you for an ice sculpture," Bobby snapped pointing a finger at Logan, who merely raised one eyebrow and stared at him.

Turning Bobby headed for his room, glad to have that out of the way now. He felt lighter, more relaxed now that he'd made his decision. Of course he realized it was the right one for all concerned. Rogue and Logan were the epitome of soul-mates and standing in the way of their happiness would only hamper everyone's health!

Shaking his head Logan glanced behind him at the bed and smiled softly. Oh yes, he would make her happy or die trying.