Chapter 4
“We cannot banish dangers, but we can banish fears. We must not demean life by standing in awe of death.” – David Sarnoff
The curtains were drawn closed against the morning sunlight, leaving the room in a comfortable darkness. The single bed against the wall held a sleeping Rogue who had drifted off into slumber once Logan had settled her in. He had remained sat besides her bed, watching over her in a poignant silence. He had not slept himself. All night he had sat in that chair, staring at her with his mind full of thoughts that never came to conclusions. He had hardly moved, only at one point when his sensitive hearing picked up the foretelling whirr of her alarm clock did he lean over to unplug it before the beeping alarm could wake her up. Satisfied, he remained in his seat, the length of which unknown.
At one point, there came a knock upon the door, followed by the curious call of, “Rogue?” it was Bobby. He turned the door handle and peered in, clearly wondering where his girlfriend had been all morning. His eyes stared through the blackness as they met Logan’s stern glare. Unwelcoming. Bobby quickly glanced down to the bed where Rogue remained undisturbed. He came a little further into the room, shutting the door behind him. “Is everything alright?”
As the door was closed, Logan stood up, taking slow but long strides around the foot of Rogue’s bed to meet Bobby before he proceeded any further into the room. “Look, talk to her later when she wakes up, alright?”
“I want to know what’s wrong,” said Bobby, keeping his tone cool and unwavering. He was still not entirely on good terms with Logan, and was a little fearful after Logan’s berserker rage on Stryker’s soldiers (which had done nothing to convince him of Logan’s supposedly ‘nicer’ side.)
“She’s asleep,” Logan muttered, his words being slightly enhanced by a snarl. He took Bobby by his upper arm, and though he didn’t add any vindictive pressure, the grip was still noticeably firm. Logan steered Bobby out of the room with a dark glare. “Come back later. Let her rest.” With that, he shut the door on Bobby’s face, his foot remaining against the bottom of the door idly to fully stop the boy’s attempts to open the door once more. Logan listened to Bobby’s annoyed sigh before his footsteps retreated down the corridor. With a nod, Logan pulled back from the door, making his way back to his seat.
As he sat down, he was surprised to see Rogue watching him. “Thanks,” she said in a quiet voice. “I don’t want to explain it all just yet. It’s too..” she drifted off, her eyes averting from Logan’s.
“No problem, kid,” he murmured softly, pushing from his seat to kneel down on the floor besides her bed. “How are you feelin’?”
“Tired,” she admitted with a sigh. “Like I just want to sleep forever,” she closed her eyes to hide oncoming tears.
Logan reached a hand forward, lightly brushing a white strand from her face in the swiftest of motions to avoid her dangerous skin. “Marie..” he whispered quietly.
“I’m gonna feel like this a lot,” Rogue said gently, her eyes eventually opening to stare up at Logan. “Beast said that I’m gonna feel weaker.. fall ill more.” She breathed out a soft sigh, wiping her eyes with the back of a hand. “I’ll lose my powers soon.”
“Why?” asked Logan with a gentle frown. His eyes remained firmly on hers, giving her his undivided attention.
Rogue’s eyes gently blinked some tears free before she continued. “Cos, that’s what’s wrong. My mutated cells are dying off apparently.. they’ll go first.. then take the rest of my cells with it.” She let out a small groan as she buried her face into the pillow.
Logan looked down at the bed covers with a sigh. There was a moment in which neither of them spoke before Logan asked quietly; “Are you gettin’ up?”
“No point,” came Rogue’s bitter mumble.
“’Course there is,” Logan quickly insisted. “I’m sorry, Marie, but just because you’re dying prematurely doesn’t mean you should waste away the time you have left.”
Rogue picked her head up from the pillow, “Don’t start with all that philosophical crap.”
“I’m not gonna let you do this to yourself,” he decided, standing up. Rogue frowned as she watched him walk away. She was about to question him, when he grabbed her covers and abruptly whisked them off her bed. She gave a startled cry as she felt the cool air hit her bare lower legs and she furiously curled herself up in a protective ball, pulling her pillow over her head.
“No!” she cried, but her laughter defied her response.
Logan crawled onto the bed and towards her, “Yes,” he said simply. “Come on. It’s time to get up.” He reached out to try and grab her when she gave him a gentle but warning kick with her foot. His eyebrows rose at the attack. “Gettin’ violent are we?” Rogue peered owlishly over the top of her pillow, giving a sheepish giggle. Logan smirked at this, suddenly darting forward and snatching her up in his arms. Within seconds he was off the bed and carrying her protesting form over to the en-suite.
“Logan!” she exclaimed at the actions, wriggling. Partly in fun, but partly to get out of his arms for she was a little anxious about her bare skin. However, he was holding her carefully, and was clearly aware of what he was doing. He lowered her down in front of the sink, then folding his arms and barricading the bathroom door - which was an easy task for the large, muscular man. Rogue had swiftly turned from the sink in a bid to escape, but she found her exit blocked. She put on her most endearing pout as she stared up at him, but Logan wasn’t budging. Rogue stomped back to the sink, putting on her best sulky teenager front. She proceeded to wash her face and clean her teeth, all the while shooting deadly glares at Logan with the full intention of him noticing them. He merely smiled in return, rather charmingly, like a man who knew he had won.
Rogue dried herself on a nearby towel before she made her way back to her blocked doorway. “Done,” she announced, bearing her pearly whites at him in indication. Logan smirked to himself before he stepped out of her way and allowed the girl to head back into her room. “Now, Logan,” she said, taking on her usual mature tone as she turned to watch him. “I’m assume you’re not gonna stand there whilst I get dressed.”
Logan eyed her smirk before he edged towards the bedroom door, “No,” he assured. “But you better be out quickly, because then we’re gettin’ breakfast. See you in the kitchen.” With that he exited the room and promptly pulled the door shut. Rogue stared at the door as it closed, and realised that for a whole fifteen minutes she had forgotten about her intense desolation.
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“Pancakes!” Rogue announced just as she pushed open the door of the kitchen. The delicious aroma had caught her a long distance down the corridor, and she had hurried her travel to reach the kitchen. As she stood in the doorway, Logan looked up, just as he was clumsily flicking a pancake out of the toaster and onto a plate. The pancake hit the plate with a soft plop. Logan quickly put the toaster down and nodded at the breakfast. “Burnt pancakes?” asked Rogue with a small grin.
Logan rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, “Yeah well, I’m no great shakes in the kitchen, kid.”
“Don’t worry, I love pancakes of any burnt variety,” assured Rogue as she seated herself at the breakfast bar, helping herself to the pancakes on the plate by adding copious amounts of butter.
Above them, the smoke alarm abruptly started going off, summoning Logan’s startled noise as he noticed the toaster behind him giving off fumes of smoke. Rogue stared as Logan dug his fingers into the toaster, pulling the blackened pancake out with his fingertips. He cursed colourfully, then binning the pancake with a final swear word. He stared up at the alarm, in clear confusion as to how to stop the sound. Rogue held back a laugh as she picked up a nearby newspaper and climbed up upon her stool. She then proceeded to fan the smoke away from the alarm. Logan quickly moved over to her side, anxious as she stood balancing on the stool. As the resounding alarm subsided, Logan chuckled, helping her down off the stool.
Rogue seated herself back down, and Logan proceeded to do the same opposite her. Rogue helped herself to a few mouthfuls, licking her fingers of the butter as she grinned. Logan smirked, but said nothing as he sipped from a bottle of fizzy drink. Swallowing her mouthful, Rogue watched him for a moment. “Why are you doin’ all this?” she asked.
With a raised eyebrow, Logan answered. “Because it’s makin’ you happy, kid.”
“You don’t have to run around after me,” Rogue told him with a small frown.
“I know,” Logan took another drink from his bottle. “But I said I’d take care of you, and that promise still stands.”
Rogue gave him a gentle smile, accepting this answer. She went back to her breakfast without another word. Behind her, the door opened with a quiet creak and Logan’s eyes hardened on the entry.
“Rogue?” It was Bobby. “Are you alright?”
Rogue quickly looked up, meeting Logan’s eyes. She sighed quietly to herself, swallowing down the last pancake. “I’ll see you soon,” she spoke softly, then turning out of her seat and offering Bobby a weak smile as she walked over to him. “I need to talk to you, Bobby.”
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