Chapter 6
“Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.” - Andrew Jackson.
As the weeks passed, Rogue was becoming noticeably sluggish in her actions. She found herself wearing out a lot quicker than she used to, so much so that the Professor had to excuse her from lessons because they were causing her to fall asleep in the late afternoon. The teachers were simply told she had come down with flu and was to be exempt from future classes until further notice. However, this meant a lot of free time on Rogue’s hands, but she often found herself in the company of Logan, since he usually mulled around the mansion during lesson time with little to do.
Rogue exhaled a soft sigh as she let her eyes drift closed for a few seconds, currently lethargically sprawled on top of Logan’s double bed, trying to stay awake. Logan was stood at the opened window, a lit cigar hanging out of his lips. He stood in contemplation, his hand rising to take the cigar between calloused fingers. He softly breathed the smoke out through the window before he returned the cigar back to his mouth. He flicked the decreasing stub out of the window with one last exhale of smoke, turning to glance over at Rogue. His face quickly became concerned as he saw her with her eyes closed, and he swiftly turned towards the bed, dropping down to the floor upon his knees. His hand lightly took her clothed shoulder, attempting to rouse her. “Marie?”
“Hm?” sighed Rogue softly, eventually letting her eyes open as she peered up at him sleepily.
Logan pulled his hand back, frowning as he watched her. He didn’t like it when she began drifting to sleep; it worried him that one time she wouldn’t be waking up with apologies. “You were fallin’ asleep.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she murmured quietly. “I don’t mean to.”
“I know,” Logan sighed, his eyes on her pale face. “It just worries me.” He fell quiet for a moment, merely watching her as she lay across the covers of his bed. She wasn’t even using the pillows. She flopped horizontally over the bed when she walked in and hadn’t moved since. That was over an hour ago. “I could help you, y’know..” he whispered, averting his eyes.
Rogue closed her eyes as she let out a soft groan, “No, Logan, we’ve been over this before.”
“Just to get your strength up.. before your mutation stops working.”
“And what’s the point in prolonging it, Logan?”
Logan chanced a glance at her before he quickly looked away. “Kid, I don’t want you to be like this. I could make you healthy – “
“Yeah, for a few hours, then we’re back to where we were.”
“I hate seeing you like this,” Logan whispered, lowering his forehead on top of his folded arms.
Rogue sighed softly as she rolled round onto her front, extending a hand across the bed to take his and give it a reassuring squeeze. She hated seeing him like this. She knew all he wanted more than anything was to make her better, even a little. She didn’t want him to be as unhappy as her, but it seemed he was always going to feel as down as she was. “Don’t Logan..”
“C’mon,” he said quietly, standing to his feet. “Let’s stop talkin’ ‘bout it. Let’s get you outta the mansion.”
Rogue sat up slowly, staring at him, “Logan, I can’t leave – “
“You can. It’s an order,” he gave her a gentle smile before he pulled her towards him and to her feet. “I told you weeks ago I wouldn’t let you do this to yourself. You can’t just stop livin’..”
“That’s ironic.”
“Yeah, bad choice of words..” Rogue gave him a small smile, which he returned. He took her hand, leading her out of the bedroom and on through the corridors. The corridors were quiet due to everyone either settled in the recreation room or in their bedrooms. It was pushing on into evening, with the sun beginning to sink. The pair headed towards the garage, Logan slipping inside first and cautiously checking the area. Finding it clear, he made a beeline for the royal blue Mazda he had briefly attained during his escape from Stryker’s soldiers with Rogue and her friends.
“Logan..” said Rogue reproachfully as Logan opened the driver’s door, “you can’t take Cyclops’s car again..”
“I can,” he said simply, dropping down into the seat. “Get in,” he told her swiftly before he slammed the car door closed. Relenting with a sigh, Rogue quickly made her way around the bonnet of the car, getting into the passenger’s seat. The engine was already revving and she had only just fastened her seatbelt when the sleek mobile raced forward and towards the automatically opening doors. With a screech of the tyres, the car raced on towards the winding roads, the mansion quickly being left behind them.
Rogue chuckled as she watched the mansion disappear around the corner, earning her a smirk as Logan glanced across to her.
“That’s better, kid,” he said as he continued to drive on across the quiet roads.
Rogue smiled across to him, then turning to look out ahead, “So, where are we goin’?”
“You’ll see,” he replied vaguely. “I’ve been there a few times when I’ve needed to get outta the mansion.”
Looking intrigued at the mysterious location, Rogue nodded her head to herself. “Well, ok. Finding out where Wolverine likes to prowl off to should be interestin’.”
Logan chuckled roughly at this, “Don’t get your hopes up, kid,” he murmured with a small smile. The car continued to smoothly handle the tight bends of the long winding roads. A few times Rogue felt her stomach experience nervous somersaults as Logan performed some apprehensive manoeuvres, which he always managed to achieve with ease.
Before long, the car was showing signs of slowing, and he sharply pulled them into the dirt of a rough hard-shoulder, and stopped the vehicle amongst a faint cloud of dust from his sudden stop. Rogue glanced over to him as he turned off the ignition, then looking back out at their location – which was the middle of nowhere. “Are we here?”
“Yes,” he answered. As always, Logan responded minimally. He unbuckled the seatbelt, opening the car door to exit the vehicle. Rogue quickly followed his example, letting her feet out to meet the uneven dirt before she rose to her feet and shut the door closed. She turned to view him over the top of the car roof, seeing him place his hands behind his head as he scanned over the countryside with a certain peace.
“You come out here?” she asked quietly, proceeding around the bonnet of the car to reach his side.
Logan nodded in response, then walking ahead to a low fence, which he hopped over with ease. He reached round, beckoning that Rogue should follow. There was a moment of hesitation before she moved towards the fence, awkwardly climbing up the slats until Logan eased her over the top and set her on her feet again. She was placed down in a field of wild grass that followed on down the sloping hillside, which disappeared into a lush woodland at the bottom. The crest of the hill, where they currently stood, offered a picturesque view across the valley.
“Hey, is that the mansion?” Rogue asked as she slowly walked forward through the grass, the tips of the soft strands almost brushing up to her knee. She indicated down into the valley where the mansion itself was nestled in the distance, its lights shining from its many windows.
“Yep,” replied Logan with a simple grunt, dropping down to sit himself on the peak of the hillside. He helpfully smoothened down the grass for Rogue to join him, and she lowered down to seat herself. She watched Logan curiously as he stared off ahead, his knees lightly bent and parted with his elbows rested upon them. His hands idly dangled in the space between his legs, his head lifted to welcome the cool breeze on his face.
Rogue studied his face before she glanced out across view once more, pulling her calves up against her rear as she sat with knees bent to the side. “How often do you come out here?”
“About every other week,” he said quietly as he continued to stare ahead. The skies were dimming into a rusty glow now, and the light was creeping away bit by bit. “I come out when I need to just sit and think, y’know? Just have to time away from the mansion.”
Rogue watched him closely, his words a little surprising to hear, for she never expected Logan to be such brooding sort of person. Sure, he liked time to himself, but this was different, this was revealing a deep side to Logan she hadn’t really been aware of. “You been out here recently?”
“Quite a lot since I found out what was wrong with you,” he admitted regretfully, bowing his head.
“Any epiphanies?” asked Rogue, an eyebrow rising.
Logan smiled a little at her question, glancing over to her. “Only that I should try and help you, somehow. But that’s all,” he sighed quietly, looking back ahead. “I don’t mean for this to sound selfish.. but I don’t want you to die, kid.”
“Hey.. I don’t wanna die either,” murmured Rogue quietly, moving a little closer to him and reassuringly leaning against his side. “But we gotta accept what’s wrong. You gotta accept it.”
“I just wanna help you,” he sighed heavily, shaking his head, “Is that so bad?”
“No..” said Rogue soothingly, surprised to find that his voice sounded rather strained. “Course it ain’t.. that’s just your natural response – you wanna protect me.”
“I promised to take care of you, and I never thought there’d be somethin’ I couldn’t protect you from.”
Rogue gently rested her gloved hand on his shoulder, leaning in with a small smile, “C’mon, now. I thought we were gonna stop talkin’ about this.”
“We are,” Logan replied as he glanced down at her, his face tense, “I just needed to explain myself.”
“Sugar,” coaxed Rogue gently, “I understand you more than you know. I’ve learnt to read you well.”
A rough chuckle sounded as Logan nodded his head in agreement, “Yeah,” he agreed in a low tone. “It’s always been you an’ me, ain’t it kid?”
Rogue smiled at him reflectively, lowering her head to rest her chin upon the hand that grasped his shoulder. “There’s a few at the mansion who are jealous of us, y’know.”
“Really?”
“Hell yeah!” Rogue exclaimed with a smirk, “Bobby for one.”
“He was jealous of anythin’ that looked at you.”
Rogue chuckled quietly at this, “But seriously, he really didn’t like how close we are.”
“He’s an asshole. I mean, he’s the one who had you as a girlfriend. Not me.”
Rogue shrugged her shoulders tiredly at this, “I know, but he was always funny about us.” She glanced down at his shoulder, idly picking at a hole in the shoulder of his leather jacket. The pair fell into a comfortable silence, allowing the darkness to continue to fall around them. The low skies were turning bloodier, the fireball that was the sun brimming the horizon in narrow flames. Logan slowly looked over to Rogue to see that her head had slumped contentedly against his shoulder, her breathing turning gradually shallow.
His lips grew thin as he pulled back his arm, looping it around her narrow waist protectively. “Look at you.. we should head back.”
“No..” she breathed out softly. “I like it here,” she snuggled closer against his side, the action causing him to hold her tighter.
Logan exhaled a coarse sigh as he held onto her, his head turning to look out across the valley once more. It was peaceful out here. Away from the mansions seemed to mean away from their troubles, even if Rogue was living proof of their woes. Her content nature just soothed him, the current lack of anxiety about her calming. “Marie..” he said softly, glancing back down at her.
“No..” she murmured, her words barely a whisper.
“Marie, c’mon, we gotta get back to the mansion.”
She responded with a mere noise, and Logan exhaled a troubled sigh. He moved onto his knees, arms securely coming under her body and picking her up out of the grass. He made his way back to the car, lowering her sleeping form on the leather passenger seat. Logan was quick to get in the car, the engine abruptly starting and beginning a swift return to the mansion. All the while he called her name, her responses becoming quieter and less obvious.
The car braked across the gravel, the small pieces of stone flying up at the abuse of the tyres. The car screeched to a halt inside the lit garage, the parking haphazard and more than enough to make Scott notice his sports car had been used. But Logan didn’t care, he leapt out of the car, hurriedly coming to the passenger side and easing Rogue back into his arms and out of the car. Kicking the car door closed without a single thought for Scott’s polished surface, Logan made his way out of the garage and into the mansion, swiftly coming upon Rogue’s room. He deposited her on her bed with care, seating himself down on the edge as he saw her turn her head slightly in welcome of the soft pillows, but other than that she had no energy to get herself more comfortable.
Logan aided by removing her shoes, then pulling the covers over her smaller form. He slowly stood to his feet as he moved to her bedroom door, glancing back at her in hesitation. He sighed quietly as he retreated back inside, closing the door and making his way back to the bed. He leaned over her, his dark eyes watching her with concern. He raised his bare hand, it wavering as it hovered over the smooth naked skin of her face. A sigh was heard as he pulled his hand away, deciding to hold back on his actions for now. “Good night, kid,” he whispered into the darkness, seating himself down besides her with an unwavering vigilance.
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