There was no getting around it; the kid would just have to come to Logan’s combat training class. Hardly an ideal situation, but Logan thought he could turn it to his advantage. The students needed a new challenge.
What he didn’t need was to stress the cautious friendship he’d only recently been able to establish with Rogue. Returning to the mansion after being incommunicado for five years let him in for quite a shock for the scope of how Rogue had grown up. She was enrolled in college, had turned down invitations to serve on the X-Men’s A-team, and was well on her way to getting on with life without Logan. But even all of that didn’t faze him. Not much. No, it was one other detail that had practically unseated Logan’s view of the world – his view of Rogue. One small, four year old, blue haired detail. Rogue had adopted a daughter, Maggie.
Logan discovered the fact of Maggie immediately upon returning. In his shock he reacted insensitively, setting up a cascade of emotion and miscommunication that led Rogue to shut the Wolverine out of her life as completely as he’d kept himself away.
Logan settled into the way of life at the mansion and made sure Marie knew he was there to stay. He tried to keep his anguish over not getting close to Marie to himself, but it was obvious to everyone. Even Rogue could see it, and she found her resolve wearing away. Slowly, and not without some maneuvering from the rest of the X-team, Marie has come to accept Logan’s company, if not outwardly seek it.
Maggie, on the other hand, was Logan’s from the moment she saw him. Sure, there was the initial caution when they met – no doubt fostered by her mother’s bitterness towards him – but she quickly out grew her shyness. That Maggie adored him as much as she obviously did startled Logan at first, but the precocious child with an eye-twinkling grin won him over and Logan began to treasure his time with her. So much so that he’d taken to stopping by when Essie was watching Maggie while Rogue was at school. He’d take Maggie off of Essie’s hands for 30 minutes or so, the change of pace suiting all three of them.
Today, however, the Professor needed Essie’s help with an urgent matter, so she’d asked Logan to keep Maggie for a few hours. Few hours, right. That was nearly 2 and a half hours ago, and he had a combat class to teach in – fifteen minutes.
Definitely no getting around it, Maggie would have to come along to class. He wasn’t concerned about her, Maggie was highly creative and able to entertain herself very effectively. But he didn’t want to consider what Rogue would think of him taking her to combat lessons, when she didn’t even authorize him to be watching Maggie in the first place. He left a note explaining where Maggie was, and hoped that Essie would be the one to find it.
“So darlin’, how’d you like to come down and watch my students shoot bows and arrows?”
“Oooohh,” she squealed, “like Robin Hood?” Logan nodded. “I wanna come, I wanna come!”
Logan doubted Maggie had much innate interest in archery, but her enthusiasm to do just about anything he suggested always warmed his heart. Predictably the little chatterbox started right off into a tale about Robin Hood and his band of “hairy” men, as she galloped on her imaginary horse across the grounds towards the archery range. Logan couldn’t help but grin as he thought about the chaos he was about to unleash upon his students.
“Archery again? Why are we wasting our time out here, it’s not like we’re going to fight the Brotherhood with bows and arrows!”
It was not the first time that Logan had heard this complaint. In fact, since archery was on a rotation every several weeks in his combat class, he got these grumbles regularly every several weeks. “Because I said so” was his standard gruff reply.
He had plenty of reasons why he used archery as a training technique. Beyond hand-eye coordination, archery requires discipline, patience and the ability to focus, all of which are vital in any combat situation. Logan just never felt the students needed to know those reasons. Sometimes it was better to learn the lesson without knowing what the lesson was.
Showing up today with Maggie in tow immediately silenced all such complaints from the students, however. They all knew and loved Maggie, but seeing her in Logan’s care was something quite irreconcilable.
“Since when is the Wolverine pulling baby sitting duty?” Jubilee whispered to Kitty.
“Since Essie was called away unexpectedly,” Logan answered, immediately reminding Jubes that she continually failed to appreciate Logan’s unnatural sense of hearing.
“We have a guest today. Maggie, say hi to the class.”
Hit with a characteristic bout of caution having entered the archery shed for the first time, Maggie leaned out from behind Logan’s legs. Seeing only familiar faces she giggled and jumped out of her safe spot. “Hi Bobby! Hi Jubee!” At one time Maggie had had troubles saying Jubilee’s name correctly, by now she just preferred using her personal nickname for her. “Hi Kitty! Hi Johnny! Hi Remy!”
“Hey Munchkin,” Kitty knelt down and gave Maggie a hug. “What are you doing here?”
“We’re here to meet Robin Hood!” Maggie said as a matter of fact. The look on her face left no doubt that she expected a man in a green tunic and tights to step out from around the corner.
Logan rolled his eyes. Youthful exuberance was wonderful, but disappointments could be spectacularly tragic. He needed to clear this up right away. “Kiddo – we’re here to watch these guys try to be *like* Robin Hood.” Maggie stared at him, not understanding. “See those targets down there?” She nodded. “Well, we are going to get bows and shoot arrows into those targets.” Still no comprehension.
“Remy – you’ve got your bow, give us a demonstration.”
“Of course, de Remy show you how it is done.” Remy drew his bow, sighted on a target and let the arrow fly, sinking it deep into the straw. It exploded into flames on impact. Logan was about to give him a demerit for showing off when he was overshadowed.
“Ohhhhh!” Maggie’s eyes opened wide, staring first at the arrow quivering in the target then turning to look at Remy with a reverence usually reserved for Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny. “Are YOU Robin Hood?”
The group exploded in laughter. Logan bent down and scooped Maggie up in his arms. “No, darlin’, he isn’t Robin Hood. Anyone can shoot a bow and arrow. We’re just practicing to get good at it.” She giggled, but still looked at Remy in awe.
“Now, to business. Everyone get set. Maggie,” Logan looked at her to make sure he had her full attention. “Here are the rules. See this line?” He pointed at a red line painted across the floor of the shed. “You have to stay behind this line, ok? You can sit on the bench, or play anywhere back here, but you cannot cross this line for any reason. OK?” She looked at him and nodded.
The shed has an open wall, facing the archery range, so that the archers can line up under the roof overhang to shoot. The red line indicated the shooters area, and for safety reasons only those actually shooting, or the instructor, are allowed in front of the line. Logan sat Maggie down on the bench along the far wall of the narrow building.
“All of you,” Logan addressed the students. “You will need to both pay attention to Maggie and ignore her. If she crosses the line I want you to stop shooting immediately and put down your bows. However, as long as she is behind the line, ignore her. I don’t want you talking to her – this is training, not play time.” Kitty gulped when she realized that Logan was glaring at her for making faces back and forth with Maggie during his instructions. She quickly stood up and assumed the required position in front of her target.
“Standard drill here – 5 shots per target. Think about holding the bow steady and slowing your breathing…” While Logan continued coaching, Maggie started pacing back and forth behind the line, talking to no one and anyone.
“Jubee! Jubee! Jubee!” Maggie insistently tried to get Jubes’ attention. “JUBEE!”
“What?!” the exasperated Jubilee answered, looking over her shoulder. She hoped Maggie had something important to say.
“I saw Square Pants Sponge Bob today,” Jubilee groaned, knowing she was in for a demerit.
“Eyes front Jubilee, this is not social hour!”
{What was Logan thinking bringing Maggie along to practice today? Anywhere else we’d be reamed for ignoring her like this.} Being a very social girl, Maggie demanded attention like no one’s business. But she quickly realized that the students weren’t going to give in to her pleas, and decided that she didn’t need a partner to have a conversation, she could easily converse with her self.
Logan, meanwhile, was silently urging Maggie on. If these kids could still shoot and hit the target with this whirlwind dancing around behind them they’d be doing well. And they showed that after some time to get their focus, they were doing better than well, some of them were shooting just about as good as he’s ever seen them. He decided it was time for the real test.
Logan approached where Maggie was standing, now singing yet another song at the top of her lungs. {Where in the world did she learn all of these songs?} “Mags,” he whispered in her ear. Ooops, she stopped singing. The sudden quiet distracted Johnny enough to cause him to mis-fire.
“Good one there, Pryo.” Logan was keen to remind all of them that he was always watching. Recovering immediately Johnny quickly let loose another arrow that hit damn near the bulls eye. Logan turned back to Maggie.
“Mags, I told you never to cross the line, right?”
“I haven’t! I’ve been a good girl standing right back here.” Her eyes were wide with fear that Logan was angry with her.
“Yes, you have,” he reassured her quickly. “You’ve been a very good girl. Could you do me a favor – just this once?” She nodded. “I want you to start singing a song …”
“How about ‘The Sun and the Moon? It goes like this…”
“Hang on darlin’!” Logan had to cover her mouth to get her to listen to him. “That’s a real good song – you can sing it in a minute, ok?” A muffled sound of agreement came from between his fingers. “While you are singing, I want you to – just this *one* time – step over the line right there where that soda can is. Can you do that for me?”
Maggie looked uncertain – “But you said *never* to cross the line. You said it wasn’t safe over the line.”
{That’s my girl,} Logan thought. She was a smart cookie – if you gave her a reason for a rule, she was not likely to ever break that rule. “I know I did, but this one time I’ll be watching you close, and I’ll make sure its safe. OK?” Maggie nodded.
“Ok – so, start singing.” Maggie never needs to be told twice to sing and launched right into the new song. After a few bars Logan gave her a little push towards the line and she stepped, oh so casually, into the shooters zone. Logan couldn’t have been more proud.
Though it took several seconds, Bobby was the first to see her. He quit shooting and was about to shoo her back over the line when he noticed Logan standing right behind her. Shortly everyone but Remy had ceased firing. Remy took 2 more shots before he realized that the others were staring at him, their bows down. Maggie was still singing, though whether it was the same song or another Logan wasn’t sure. He put a hand on her head to silence her for a minute.
“Point to Bobby for being the first to see Maggie, demerit to Remy for being the last. You *always* have to be aware of your surroundings – both to keep and eye on each other as well as to watch for the enemy on your flanks. You must not let yourself get so focused on what is in front of you that you don’t know what is behind you.” His eyes rested on Remy to drive his point home.
“Go reset the targets.” Periodically shooting has to stop to go collect the arrows in and around the targets, and to replace the paper target sheets. Each of the archers put down their bows and headed across the range.
When they returned, Logan announced “OK, time for the test.” At the end of every rotation segment Logan gave the class a challenge. The terms of the challenge differed according to their current skill level, but the stakes were always the same: Logan buys pizza at Tom’s Tavern if the class passes.
“Each of you get 3 shots to make the best shot you can on your own target”. None of the students moved, because they knew that couldn’t be all there was to the challenge – that was far too easy.
“Then,” the group let out a collective breath, “I get one shot per target.” As one, the group inhaled again. “If I don’t beat each of your best shots it’s dinner on me.”
“Well that’s a new one,” Bobby said under his breath to Pyro as he turned to pick up his bow. Logan had never pitted the students against himself before. This was a milestone – Logan’s recognition of their growing skills. Suddenly the stakes seemed higher than ever before.
“Dat Logan, he be upping the ante, no?”
“Yeah, we can’t let this one get by.” Bobby nodded in agreement.
“You can take your shots at will, Maggie and I will watch from back here.” Logan looked around to find Maggie. Keeping her in sight was a challenge in itself, and he intended to put her talents to work again.
“You’re going to keep her quiet for the challenge, right?” asked Kitty. “I mean, what with us trying to compete with you and all.”
“Not a chance. Focusing is the topic of the day Kitty – deal with it.” Logan’s grin was plain to see, and had a decidedly wicked bent to it. “Besides, I’m already giving you three shots to my one.”
The groans from each student was enough to confirm that they thought the test was a real challenge – the only kind to have, as far as Logan was concerned.
Logan called Maggie to him. “Ok, darlin’, know what we are going to do now?”
“We’re playing Robin Hood!” Logan chuckled. It never ceased to amaze him how at times the girl could have the attention span of an ant, yet at others latch onto an idea and just not let it go.
“That’s right, and this is the big contest – they are going to try and win a prize by shooting the best arrow they can.”
“Yeaaaa! Prizes!” Logan knew he’d pique her interest with the mention of a prize. She never could resist a prize – as their first and only trip to a carnival had made him so painfully aware.
“Yep, so I need you to give them a lot of encouragement to help them out.”
“Goodie – Prizes, prizes, prizes, we’re going to get a prize. Big prizes, suffed prizes, shiny prizes. Come on guys – win a prize. Yeaaaa!” the litany of yells Maggie came up with would have made any cheering squad proud. Once the archers started firing she expanded her repertoire to include personal encouragements to each of them by name. Each took their shots. Remy and Kitty were quite pleased with their results, each getting at least one arrow quite close to the bulls eye. Bobby’s first two shots went wide, but his last was respectably near the center. Jubilee was less satisfied, but she generally struggled with archery – and made sure that everyone understood she didn’t think it was a worthwhile skill anyway.
Pyro’s results were a bit of a surprise – not getting any arrow closer than several inches from the center. But then Maggie’s spontaneous rendition of
"Hey Johnny
What do ya say
Are ya ready to kick some butt today?
C’mon Johnny don’t try to fake it
Stand up and lemme see you shake it"
may have had something to do with his performance. Everyone was more than a little surprised at what Maggie was coming up with. Logan was glad when they’d finished shooting so he could cut off this latest line of chanting.
“Who won?” she demanded.
“No one yet darlin’. It’s my turn now.”
Logan retrieved his bow from the rack and lined up in front of Remy’s target. Turn-about only being expected, Kitty and Jubes got Maggie and the three of them started into some cheers together.
"Hey, Hey Logan -
You're looking fine
You blow our mind
Growl like you’re on the prowl"
If Logan had even noticed their efforts, it didn’t affect his aim, hitting the bulls eye straight on.
"There he is, the Wolverine
Don’t make him mad cuz he’ll get mean
You mess with him
He’ll make you spin
Like you’ve never seen"
About to take his shot on the next target, a blast of flame suddenly roared past Logan’s shoulder traveling half way across the range. Still true on target, however, Logan had no trouble beating Johnny’s best shot. After watching his arrow sink into the target, Logan pivoted to face Pyro, eyebrow raised.
“I figured I’d level the playing field.”
Logan smirked. “Bring it on.”
On his next shot, Pyro, Bobby, Remy and Jubes threw in everything they had – fireworks, hail, flames… To no effect. With three down Logan only had to make two more to beat the challenge.
As Logan was sighting on Jubilee’s target, Kitty called the others to conference. Jubilee had disappeared, but there was no time to look for her. Kitty said she wanted to handle the next disruption. As Logan readied his shot, Kitty dashed out onto the range in front of him, phased. Her sudden appearance not only failed to interrupt his shot, but he timed it so that the arrow passed right through her and on into the center of the target. Kitty yelped as the arrow ‘hit’ her.
“Kitty!” yelled Logan, “Get your butt behind the line!”
Just one more target to go, and the team were scrambling to think of what else they could throw at Logan. Jubilee’s reappearance and urgent gesture caught their attention. “I’ve got the sure thing” she announced in a whisper. “When I signal, everyone shut up.”
There were exclamations around, but Logan was already set up so there was no time to argue. Jubilee gave the signal, and all 5 of them went silent. Jubilee grabbed Maggie and got her to pipe down as well. {Huh} thought Logan. {Well at least that’s thinking outside of the box. But if they think that silence is going to make me miss this shot, they’re sorely mistaken.} He grinned, and pulled the bow string taught, and relaxed his body in preparation for the release.
A voice cut the silence. A voice that hadn’t been there before, dripping with that deep southern drawl, “Hey there sugah.”
He flinched. {FUCK} Worse than that, he flinched and shot.
The arrow didn’t veer far. But this was Kitty’s target, and she’d done some impressive shooting. Impressive enough that Logan’s arrow fell outside of one of hers.
The group let out a collective shout, high-fiving all around. Bobby grabbed Rogue and spun her around. Maggie, not entirely following the action but more than willing to join in any revelry, was dancing and singing in the midst of everyone.
Logan faced the group, his face drawn up into a scowl. While he was irked at having been bested, he was more anxious that Rogue clearly knew that he’d brought Maggie to archery practice when she was placed in his care. He checked the time, and sure enough class had run late. Damn-it, he berated himself for not getting Maggie home on time. Logan glanced at Rogue, and was immediately relieved to see she didn’t seem angry. She was smiling and congratulating the classmates. When she did look his way, Logan saw the satisfaction of helping to bring down the Wolverine’s ego a notch gleam in her eyes.
“Oh, you can’t get mad, Logan!” insisted Jubilee. “Isn’t that your number one rule of combat you are always forcing on us: know your enemy’s weaknesses? And USE them to our advantage?”
Logan paused, thinking how applicable Jubilee’s argument was. He may try to hide his feelings for Marie, but deep down he knew he wasn’t being convincing. What’s more, her effect on him was plainly displayed for all to see this afternoon. Logan recognized it was time to admit it.
His chuckle started as a rumbling deep in his chest, and grew till it thundered. “Point to Jubilee.” Jubes let out a whoop of triumph and gave Rogue a bear hug.
“Get your equipment packed up so we can get out of here, looks like I’ll be buying at the tavern.”
While the students moved out to reset the targets and put their bows away, Marie called Maggie to her. “Just what are you doing down here, sweetie?”
“Essie had to go, so Logan brought me to class.”
“Really?” The surprise was plainly evident on her face. “And did you have a good time, here in class?”
“Oh yes – I helped by keeping them entertained, and I was a good girl and stayed behind the line. Well, almost the whole time – I only crossed the line when Logan told me to.” Rogue, having spent her share of time in archery training, shot a confused and concerned glance at Logan.
“It was a test – I’d told the class that they’d have to watch out for Maggie and if she crossed the line to stop shooting. Only she was so good, she never crossed it herself so I told her to.” Marie was impressed with Logan’s ingenuity to incorporate Maggie into the training lesson, instead of just sitting her down to occupy herself during class.
“I’m sorry I let class run late and I didn’t have Maggie back in time.” Logan blurted, clearly uncomfortable. “I mean it must have been strange to come home and find a note she was in combat training. I didn’t know if you’d be angry.”
“I have to admit I had to read it several times to believe it was serious. Truthfully I wouldn’t have thought Essie would ask you to take Maggie if something came up.” She never would have pegged him as the type to like children. Logan shrugged, and turned to stowing his equipment while Marie looked on.
The more she thought about it, though, she had to admit that she was impressed anytime she saw Logan interacting with her daughter. They really seemed to have a great rapport.
She was still looking at him when she thought back to Jubilee’s earlier statement. “So I’m your weakness, am I?”
Logan froze. He hadn’t anticipated Rogue calling him on this directly. He finished wiping down his bow and faced her, trying to decide how to respond. When his eyes met hers, he could see a decidedly playful sparkle there – she knew she was putting him on the spot and was enjoying watching him squirm. But he could also see, underneath the playfulness, a genuine acceptance that he hadn’t received from her since his return.
He answered in all seriousness, “Of the worst kind, actually.”
Rogue’s eyes narrowed as she cocked her head slightly, “What does that mean?”
“Just that some weaknesses are things you can fix or adapt for. If you have a blind side, you compensate by orienting yourself so you aren’t exposed on that side. If you lack talent in a certain type of combat, you develop skills in other forms.” Rogue waited for him to continue, no idea where he was going. Logan stepped closer.
“The worst weakness is the type you can’t control. That’s exactly how I feel with you.” Logan paused, and took a deep breath. “Don’t get me wrong, I know I made my own bed by leaving and staying away. I don’t blame you for not trusting me or for protecting yourself anyway you think you need to.” Logan looked away, unable to look into her eyes for what he was to say next. “But I want to be close to you again. I want you to trust me. So I’ve tried to be here, to fit in here, to show you that I’m not leaving again. But it’s up to you to see that and believe in that.”
It took Marie a few minutes to find a response. She knew he’d wanted to resume a relationship with her, but to hear that all of what he had done since returning was to prove to her that he was worth it was breathtaking. She knew they still had a long way to go before they could entertain anything resembling a relationship, even in friendship, but she also knew that they were a long way from when he had first returned. She admitted that she liked seeing him with Maggie, and that level of acceptance could well be the door opening to much more.
“Logan, I may not trust you enough to let my guard down around you… to let us get close.” Logan nodded. He knew she was purposefully keeping a distance between them, but it didn’t hurt any less to admit that openly with her. Marie paused, but when he still didn’t look up she put her hand on his arm. “Not yet at least. But one thing is for sure, I trust you completely with Maggie. I know she’s in good hands with you and I’m glad you were able to step in when Essie needed a backup today.”
Logan startled, looking at Marie with eyes wide and a kaleidoscope of emotions in his face. “I…. , you…, I mean she….,“ he groaned unable to force this jumble of feelings he was having into coherent words. He’d had no idea she felt this way. He didn’t even know if she knew about his visits with Maggie, and for her to admit she could trust him, with her daughter of all things, he was truly taken aback.
“I didn’t know that. Thanks.” The words were neither eloquent nor adequate, but Marie caught the depth of his gratitude from the look in his eyes and the slight tremor in his voice. He placed his hand over hers where it lie upon his arm and held it tight.
“Momma, I’m hungry! Are we going soon?” The blue haired whirlwind had danced her way over to the two of them. It was no wonder she was hungry; the volume of energy she put out constantly was dizzying.
“You bet c’ha kiddo,” Logan replied. He scanned the shed to verify everything had been put away.
“All stored and locked, Capt’n.” Jubilee and the others appeared from the back room of the shed. “Rogue and Maggie are coming with us, right?”
“We wouldn’t miss this victory dinner for the world!”
They all turned to leave the shed, Marie taking her daughter’s hand in hers. “Now Maggie, about those cheers…”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
My first fic – suffice it to say I needed to find the right sandbox to play in. A ton of hugs goes to November Tuesday, who not only let me play in her sandbox, but also was a terrific beta, encouraging me where parts were good, and nudging where they were less so. Her series ‘Seasons of Growth’ it is great reading and sets up the backstory for this fic, but not critical for understanding - it can be found at www.novemberotica.com/fanfic.html. Finally, a nod has to go to my niece, Sara, who is a fine whirlwind in her own right...