His voice caught Victor off guard, and Rogue used the chance to scramble to her feet. She flushed a shade of pink and looked at Logan like she wanted to melt into the floor. Apparently he read the distress on her face.
"You okay Rogue? I'm not interrupting..."
"God no!" she blurted, making Victor glare at her. "I was...he was just…"
Logan moved before anyone could catch the action, grabbing Creed by the collar of his shirt.
"What did I tell you about crossing the line around here, bub?!" he growled and twisted his grip on the shirt.
"You gonna stop me runt? Put me in my place? Let's go then! Why wait?" Creed gnashed his teeth and wrapped his hands around Logan's arms.
"Stop it! Both of you!" Rogue yelled. When neither of them listened, she began to tug at their arms. "You're supposed to be on the same team! Act like it, dammit! Behave!"
"That might be asking a bit much of me," Victor sneered, showing his teeth.
"Logan," she tried, "it's...it's fine. He didn't hurt me - he's just trying to piss you off."
"Well it's working," Logan growled again.
"Come on, just let him go - he's not worth it. Please?"
"Heh - hear that, she's beggin' you runt. Bet you love it when she begs."
With that, Logan flung him back down on the couch and stood over him. "That's it Creed! You want another ass beating that bad, you got it! It'll be my pleasure."
Logan abruptly grabbed Rogue's arm, pulling her behind him to leave the room.
"The pleasure will be mine Wolverine," Victor called behind him.
Once out of the room and down the hallway, Logan spun back to her.
"I cannot emphasize enough how much you need to stay away from him," he forced out in a failed attempt at an even tone. "Do you understand?"
Rogue shook her head at him. "Don't you think that's a little unrealistic since I am his squad leader? I know what you mean and yeah, Creed is an asshole, but he's not going to hurt me. He just does stuff to try and get a rise out of me. He'll get bored with it eventually, but *not* if he knows that messing with me is pissing you off! You're playing right into what he wants...I've learned that now. If he goes too far, I just knock the shit out him. Otherwise, I just ignore him - he's like a school bully or something."
Logan was shaking his head now. "You are grossly underestimating that bastard and that's your biggest mistake. You knew when he got here how dangerous he is, what he's capable of; none of that's changed. How can you think differently now? You gotta train with him and fight with him – fine. But you don't need to have a damn thing to do with him outside of that."
"I'm not trying to be his damn buddy, Logan! But I can't spend my days running from him or hiding in my room. I refuse to let him dictate how I'm going to act. If he bugs me, I can take care of it. I can handle Creed perfectly well, thank you."
"Looked more like he was handling you just now."
"Oh please! He was just about to let me up," Rogue said, defensively. "Creed is all about playing mind games and so far I've survived just fine. I don't want the two of you trying to beat each other to death in the den over it. Besides, I don't feel like arguing with you over this. You've avoided me and haven't spoken to me in days and now we're gonna argue?"
Logan looked into her accusing eyes and knew she was right. He hadn't actively avoided her, but he hadn't been seeking her out either. Truth was, he just didn't know what to say to her after groping her like a common fight groupie just a few nights ago. That’s what he’d thought about and how he’d treated her, like one of the women he’d take for the night and leave before dawn. What the hell had gotten into him?
She'd looked and smelled so damn good, the epitome of temptation, he couldn't help it. The urge to kiss her had made his chest feel tight, but what was he gonna do after kissing her? Offer her the ride of her life and then a 'thanks-see ya around'? That's all he had to offer, and Marie was worth so much more. He was supposed to be her friend, not another letch like Creed. More importantly, she relied on him, needed him – and not like that. The way she saw him - he was not going to ruin that. It had been hell to try and keep his hands to himself, but he had to. Not taking whatever he wanted was the only thing that separated the man from the animal. Anything less made him no better than goddamn Sabretooth.
"I'm not avoiding you," he lied. "I've been busy."
Rogue gave him a look that said she highly doubted it, but he quickly changed the subject.
"And what do you mean 'so far you've survived'? You mean to tell me he makes a habit of grabbing you?!"
"No," she denied. "But he's usually got some macho-creep remark and it's not just with me - he does it to plenty of the other women, but he does it for a reaction. Believe me; he's not going to do anything in an entire house full of X-Men. It's all bark."
Logan studied her looking completely unconvinced. "Promise me you'll avoid being around him alone."
She sighed, but nodded in agreement. "Fine. I will always try to have a chaperone."
He arched an eyebrow, not amused.
"Okay, okay. I promise I will avoid getting stuck alone with him again."
"I don't trust him Rogue - not even a little bit. I don't want anything to happen to you, because then I'd gladly have to kill the bastard. If he weren't part of Chuck's damned crusade, I probably would've killed him already."
"Point taken," she said and patted his arm. "Now...can we change the subject?"
Logan grumbled but conceded.
"Somehow, I've managed to lose Jubes - so why don't you find her for me."
"You sure you're not going from bad to worse?" he joked.
********
That night, Rogue stayed up late again. This time with a cup of coffee, she sat quietly in the dark of one of the study rooms on the main floor. Jones was up watching television - as per usual - but the rest of the mansion was in bed. She felt like one of those movie spies or double agents, but the curiosity was killing her. So far the only people stirring were her and Jones. Maybe Logan and Victor coming home late together was a one time thing and she was acting like an idiot trying to stay up late for no reason. Just as she was about mentally shame herself, she heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
"Later Jonesy," she heard Logan say.
She remained inside the small study, but dared to peak through the cracked door and watch Logan head towards the garage. He'd finally spoken to her today, but any attempt at small talk had been totally unsuccessful. All he wanted to do was insist she stay far away from Creed, wear clothing from head to toe, and maybe stay locked in her room for an eternity – just for good measure. Dammit, she wasn't some fragile fucking princess that needed an ivory tower complete with armed guards! Why couldn't he get that? And regardless of what he said, he most certainly had been avoiding her. Ever since she'd shown a little initiative and he'd finally shown that he wasn't *completely* immune to her, he'd frozen up. She had the unreasonable urge to kick him in the shins when he pulled that crap.
A few minutes later, she heard heavier footsteps approaching and saw Victor headed in the same direction. This was it! They were so busted! At...whatever it was they were doing. Waiting until she heard the garage open, she flew down the hall after them. Creeping through the door, she watched as Victor rolled his bike out of the garage. Logan was apparently already through the gate and taking off. Dammit. They were definitely being covert, and now she had to follow them to see what was going on.
Once Victor was well down the driveway, she snagged the keys to one of the smaller, economy cars and started it, keeping the lights off. There was only one main road away from the mansion, so she hoped she could go unnoticed but not lose them. She went through the mansions gates and down the dark, curvy road until she saw Creed's distant tail lights ahead of her. They drove for what seemed forever and only ended up even further in the middle of nowhere. Luckily there was a little traffic, so Rogue felt certain they had no idea they were being followed.
Finally, Creed pulled off onto a short dirt road and she slowed to read the sign but didn't pull in behind him. "End of the Road" the sign read. A bar? They were going out for a drink. Seriously? She'd never even heard of this dive. What the hell was going on?
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Author's Chapter Notes:
"I cannot emphasize enough how much you need to stay away from him," he forced out in a failed attempt at an even tone. "Do you understand?"