Chapter 7
“Better a broken promise than none at all.” – Mark Twain
A few gradual blinks summoned Rogue awake, her position in her bed meaning she was facing Logan who was vigilantly watching her in a chair not far from her bedside. She slowly rubbed at her eyes before she continued to watch him. “Hey..” she said softly, managing a small smile.
He returned the greeting with a slow nod of his head, “Hey. How you feelin’?”
Rogue shrugged without a direct answer. “You been sat there all night?”
“Yeah,” Logan admitted, and even though he didn’t want to display it, his weariness was evident from his bloodshot eyes to the inevitable yawn he let out.
“You don’t need to watch over me when I sleep, Logan,” Rogue said gently, sitting up and watching him. “I’d much rather you get your rest rather than wear yourself out.” When Logan began to show signs of protest, Rogue pushed back the covers of her bed, and fully clothed (due to her hasty arrival last night,) stepped out onto the floorboards. “Come on,” Rogue swiftly said, shooing him with her hands. She only managed to take a few steps when her legs appeared to give up on her and she stumbled to the floor. A hand shot out to grab the windowsill, the falling motion bringing her roughly against the wall, having landed on her knees.
Any signs of tiredness vanished from Logan as he abruptly shot to his feet and took hold of her carefully. “Marie..”
But Rogue continued regardless, “Go and get some sleep, Logan,” she told him softly. “I’ll be fine.”
“No. No, I’m not leavin’ you,” he insisted, gently pulling her upright. He heard her wince, and he saw her lifted a gloved hand to her forehead, where a painfully exaggerated bruise was forming from her collision against the wall. Frowning, he became aware she was not able to stand on her own two feet, and so he carried her over to the bed with care, laying her down on top of the covers. “Are you all right?”
Her eyes were closed as she tried to stop her head from throbbing at the pain, the bruise’s fierceness a direct influence of her weakening body system. “I’m fine,” she muttered quietly, her fingertips leaving her forehead. Her eyes fluttered open as she looked about her, “No, let me get up..” she struggled to get upright, even without Logan holding her. She weakly slumped back down onto the pillows, her eyes closing, but this time to hide her tears.
“Marie..?” Logan asked softly, leaning over her with concern.
“I can’t do this, Logan,” she whispered quietly. “I can’t handle just fadin’ out. I wish it was quick.”
Logan looked aside with a sigh, his mind going over the single dominating thought he had been experiencing all night. Should he help her? Even if it was against her wishes? The times like this, where she couldn’t handle her dilemma, were the times Logan wanted to take her pain away, even if it was just temporary. As she lay crying, Logan slowly lifting his hand from her arm, his fingertips hovering over her face before they delicately brushed her white streaks from her face. He saw her eyes gently open to study him through the thick tears. “Trust me,” he said softly, the same hand then lowering down upon the smooth texture of her skin.
Her powers had been weakening recently, and Logan knew the tug of her mutation would be delayed. When Rogue realised what she was doing, she made a soft gasp, her hand flinging round to grab his thick wrist. “Logan!”
Logan gently took her hand in his free one, using her weak strength to his advantage as he kept the palm of his hand cradling the cheek of her face. She stared up at him, her parted lips breathing out gasps of shock as, soon feeling her powers latching onto him like a million miniature grapple hooks.
“Logan, don’t do this,” she begged quietly, her voice quivering with its sobs. But Logan didn’t release her; he continued to keep his skin against hers till he could feel his very energy seeping out through the palm of his hand. Rogue closed her eyes as she gasped, erratic flashes of his disturbing memories currently darting across her mind. As his energy seemed to flow through her being, she felt the savage personality of the suppressed Wolverine trickle through, which only caused her anger to multiply.
With her regained strength, her hand flew forth, latching tightly onto his wrist. Logan’s eyes lethargically lowered to the grip she had on him, watching as she forced him off of her cheek easily. Panting softly, Logan staggered backwards into his previous chair. Having already been relatively weak from his lack of sleep, Logan was now incredibly exhausted and could only watch as Rogue stood to her feet, tearful eyes blazing at him. His eyes trailed the fading bruise from her forehead, then lowering to her angry face. She said nothing but stormed past him, leaving the bedroom, but not without slamming the door noisily behind her.
Rogue ignored all those she passed, who regarded her in alarm for her apparent bad temper. She continued to walk, right until she reached the upper floor balcony. Shutting the double doors behind her, she walked out across the flagged paving quietly, coming upon the stonewall with a sigh. She leant down on the rough surface, staring down to watch a small beetle work its way over the weathered grooves.
She was angry. No, more than angry. She was absolutely furious. Furious that Logan broke her trust, and as far as she was concerned, broke his promise. She knew he wanted to help her by healing her, but Rogue didn’t want to be set back like that. Feeling healthy again, only to suffer a massive drop hours later would drive her to tears. It would be cruel to experience. She just wanted to let herself be. She was trying hard to accept her fate, why couldn’t Logan do the same? She clenched her gloved hands into fists, closing her eyes as she felt Logan’s personality rumble around her head.
That was doing nothing to calm down her temper, for the Logan in her head, in tune with her anger, simply made her want to destroy things. It made her want to unleash her claws and wreak havoc. The problem was, she didn’t have claws.
But she had a brain and a tongue, and she was as sure as hell she was going to use them.
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