The bar was good and smoky, just as he liked it. Cigar hanging out the side of his mouth, he looked around at the clientele, waiting for her to make her entrance. He glanced down at his watch. //She's got another minute and then...//
The thought was unfinished as she came in. He grunted in greeting and jerked his head towards the stool next to him.
"Evenin', sugah. Thanks foah meetin' me."
"Find anythin' good out there?"
"Ah wish. Ah think we'll be movin' on tomorrow."
The door swung open again as two more entered the bar. As they sat, one said, "Molson Canadian, bub. She'll have a coke."
"Logan! Could you be any more patronizing?"
"Marie, I ain't indulging whatever cravings I'm having in your head. Bad enough that --"
She giggled. "And how would you know what cravings you're having?"
"Christ, Marie, will ya stop making me feel like a dirty old man?"
The pair at the other end of the bar looked at each other. "Is theah somethin' you ain't tellin' me, sugah?"
The Wolverine rose to his full 5 feet 8 inches, grabbed his beer, and headed down the bar. Rogue sighed and followed.
Neither of them spotted the woman with the strange orange dot on her forehead trailing them.
"Logan, why'd you even bother bringing me along if you're just gonna sit there and ignore me?" Marie pushed her hood back off her face and looked around. "There's not even a cage fight to watch."
He grunted to hide a laugh. "Well, when ya stand in front of the bike and won't let me outta the mansion, I don't really have a choice."
She sighed, stirring the coke and wishing it were something stronger. "It's not my damn fault. You're the one who craves alcohol every Friday night. I didn't ask for that, thank you very much; the healing would've been fine on its own."
A voice broke in. "Hey bub, do I know ya?"
Logan and Marie turned, startled. "Saints afire, Wolverine, these two look just lahke us!"
"Don't think so, Rogue...Ain't she a little young to be here?"
The anonymous woman sprang forward, clearing her throat. "I can explain everything." Four sets of eyes, two pairs of claws, and two ungloved hands reached for her as one.
"Whoa!" she jumped back. "Hey, chill out people, I'm the one who brought you here, okay? Hi, fanfic writer. Call me Kat."
Marie sighed. "Not another one of you people? What now?"
"What the hell is that on your forehead?" Wolverine asked.
"Oh, damn." She wiped at it, licking her fingers. "Mmmm, crunchy Cheetos, my favorite." She held her hands out in supplication. "If you could all just put your weapons away, I'll make the introductions and leave you alone." //Mostly.//
The group looked at each other and shrugged. "Curiosity killed the cat, but luckily Ah'm invulnerable," Rogue quipped.
Marie looked at her intently, "Invulnerable?"
Rogue shrugged. "You ain't?"
Marie shook her head.
"And I can explain!" interjected their host. "Movie!Rogue, meet Comic! Rogue. Comic!Rogue, this is Movie!Rogue. We the public love you so much, we made a movie out of you. Well, *we* didn't, it was Fox and Bryan Singer, because if it was us fanfic writers, we would've made it much more obvious that you were --"
*AHEM* Wolverine cleared his throat.
Kat paused, chagrined. "Sorry. But I think you can guess who that is. Movie!Logan, this is Comic!Wolverine." She turned to Movie!Logan. "In the comics, he's more often addressed as Wolverine, but you're just so yummy and accessible that we call you Logan."
She paused, lost in contemplation of his hunkiness. "Oops, sorry, I'm staring." She shook herself.
"Anyway, I just wanted to give you all the opportunity to meet each other and see what you think of each other. We fanfic writers are all attached to certain traits of certain universes. I was just wondering what you thought of what they did. So, um, have fun, I guess, and I'll be back in an hour, maybe?" The four of them looked at each other and nodded reluctantly.
"Great!" Kat exclaimed. "All right, well, have fun, and I'll see you later." She took off for the door at a quick sprint before they could change their minds about letting her off the hook.
Comic!Rogue flagged the bartender. "Two Jack and cokes, please." She looked at Movie!Rogue. "Ah think this insanity warrants a drink, don't you?"
Comic!Rogue and Movie!Rogue had polished off their second rounds and looked over towards the men. The two wolverines sat, nursing their beers in silence.
"The two of them are just gonna sit there like that if we don't say something, you know," Movie!Rogue commented.
"Ah know, but which one of us is gonna point that out to them?" Comic! Rogue replied. Movie!Rogue shrugged and moved to Movie!Logan's side for a moment, whispering in his ear.
He choked on his beer and glared at Comic!Wolverine. "Kitty Pryde? And Jubilee? Do you have supersensitive hearing or not? Those two could break glass with their squealing!"
Comic!Rogue laughed. "Good job there, Marie." She paused. "So...you and Logan?"
Movie!Rogue sighed. "Only in my dreams. My very graphic, realistic dreams."
"He saved mah lahfe a coupla times. Pretty hunky, Ah have tah say. But Remy..." she trailed off and sighed.
"Who's Remy?"
"Remy hasn't made it tah Xavier's yet?" Movie!Rogue shook her head. "Sugah, let me tell you. You think Wolverine is hunky, you just wait. Remy's sex on legs."
"But that's how we all think of Logan."
Comic!Rogue paused to consider him. "Ah guess Ah can see how. Ah nevah thought about how much bettah he'd look if he was taller."
"Not to mention how he saved my life over and over after knowing me for a day or so."
"Hmm. That could definitely make a difference..."
Comic!Wolverine cracked a rare smile. "Ya got somethin' ta say about Kitty and Jubilee, bub? What the hell are ya doin' bringin' an underage girl inta a bar like this?"
Movie!Logan grunted. "The kid's like kryptonite to me, I can't tell her no. My choices were bring her along or run her over."
Comic!Wolverine chuckled. "I always did wonder what Rogue woulda been like as a girl...Sounds about right."
They shared a comfortable moment of silence that grew, until Movie! Logan couldn't take the suspense.
"Do ya...do ya remember any more than I do?"
"Can you control it?" Movie!Rogue whispered.
Comic!Rogue looked at her sympathetically. "Just a little. Mah momma tried tah teach me when Ah was little, but..." She sighed, pulled out and lit a cigarette. "Ah haven't always been the good girl, Marie. Ah wasn't for a very long time."
Movie!Rogue raised an eyebrow at her. Comic!Rogue laughed. "You have absorbed Logan, haven't you? Ah swear, Ah nevah thought Ah could look lahke him, but there you are." She took a drag from the cigarette. "He volunteered, am Ah right?"
Movie!Rogue nodded. "That whole saving my life thing," she clarified. "Magneto pretty much killed me, but Logan brought me back."
"Magnus?" Comic!Rogue questioned.
Movie!Rogue shrugged. "He's Erik Lensherr to us."
Comic!Rogue nodded. "That's him. Tah think Ah was in love with him once..."
Movie!Rogue choked on the sip of JD and coke she was taking. She looked at the glass, then back at her comic counterpart. "Um...Am I that drunk, or did you just tell me you and Magneto were in love?!"
"That's what Ah said, sugar. Sorry tah startle you. It was another time and place..." She sighed. "Ah don't have much luck at love."
Movie!Rogue lifted her glass in sympathy. "I hear you on that."
"Heah's tah happier times ahead," Comic!Rogue said.
"That's where I come in," Kat piped up from the shadows.
"I don't think so, bub. Wish I did," Comic!Wolverine replied.
Movie!Logan grunted. "Same here, bub. Would be nice ta know what the hell happened in that damn lab."
"Wait, ya don't remember Weapon X?" Comic!Wolverine asked.
Shaking his head, Movie!Logan looked at him. "Do I want ta?"
Comic!Wolverine just shook his head. "Nah. Government guys usin' us ta do their dirty work."
"I always had that feeling," Movie!Logan replied. "So, uh...have ya got Jeannie in your universe?"
Comic!Wolverine snorted. "Depends. Does she exist? Hell yeah. Is she with Scooter? Yeah. Married. Kids, even."
Movie!Logan nodded. "Figured."
"So how the hell did ya end up taller than me anyway?" Comic! Wolverine demanded.
Chuckling, Movie!Logan cocked his head towards the far corner of the room. "Blame casting."
A group of people sat in the back, chugging beers. A woman stood up, declaring, "I discovered Hugh Jackman, damn it! That fine ass is mine!"
Hearing the woman screaming in the back of the room, Kat jumped on her. "That fine ass belongs to everyone, missy...And most especially to fanfic writers." She ushered the group out the door, explaining, "And this story is mine, okay? Casting is mine, plot is mine. Buh-bye now."
That done, examining the two pairs, Kat clapped her hands in glee. //Time to get to the real point of this exercise.// She rejoined the Rogues.
"Mystique was your mama?" Movie!Rogue asked again. "They've got real parents for me, and I didn't know anything about the Brotherhood until they tried to kill me."
Comic!Rogue shrugged, stubbing out her cigarette. "Well, that ain't the way mah story goes, but Ah don't mahnd yours. Kinda nice, havin' a normal childhood, or something lahke it."
Kat cleared her throat gently. Comic!Rogue turned to her, "Yes?"
"Just wondering whether you two had formed an opinion of each other?" she asked eagerly.
The women looked at each other. Movie!Rogue spoke first. "I want more powers, and to be something other than the damsel in distress!"
Comic!Rogue laughed. "But Ah want tah be innocent again, foah just a little while. Ah envy you that, Marie, you get tah fall in love properly, and yah don't have tah prove yaself to everyone." She took a gulp of her JD. "Believe me when Ah tell yah that wasn't fun at all."
Kat smiled. "But you respect each other?"
Both Rogues nodded.
"That's the fun part about alternate universes," Comic!Rogue commented. Movie!Rogue raised an eyebrow at her again. Comic!Rogue chuckled. "Just you wait, sugah. Interestin' times ahead, Ah guarantee."
"Thank you so much, ladies," Kat gushed. "I'm just going to check on the fine gentlemen over there, and then I just have one more request before I send you on your way."
Movie!Rogue looked at Comic!Rogue. "I would suggest another drink...This girl has written fic with me before. We'll probably need it."
Comic!Rogue laughed...and ordered.
The two Wolverines polished off their beers nearly simultaneously. Comic!Wolverine smiled devilishly. "Wanna fight?"
"Whoa there boys!" Kat interjected. "No fighting here, I need to send you back unharmed, okay?"
The boys relaxed. "Fair enough, darlin'," Comic!Wolverine answered.
Kat melted, looking back and forth between the two men. //Oh, to be unafraid of Mary Sues and NC-17 fic...// She shook herself. "So, what do you guys think of each other?"
Movie!Logan spoke up. "He's the good guy. I like it."
Comic!Wolverine grunted his thanks. "I wouldn't mind bein' taller," he commented. "But it ain't a big deal. They did pretty good work."
Kat smiled gratefully. "Fantastic. Now, if we could rejoin the ladies..."
The four characters regrouped, Movie!Logan immediately moving to Movie!Rogue's side. Comic!Rogue smiled and winked at her, moving off to Comic!Wolverine.
"Bit different meetin' than we planned, sugah," Comic!Rogue said.
"S'aright," Comic!Wolverine replied. "It's been...interestin'."
She laughed, then looked at him curiously. "Do yah think, if things were different...?"
He shrugged. "Anythin's possible, darlin'. But I don't think the Cajun would appreciate that line of thinkin'."
Comic!Rogue's face fell a little. "Tell him Ah miss him?"
Comic!Wolverine put his arm around her. "Ya know I will."
Kat smiled slightly at the scene before her, then blushed as she realized what she had to do next. //Me and my big mouth...//
"Thank you all so much for being so cooperative so far. I really appreciate it." She looked down, cowering a little. "I have one more request, though."
Movie!Rogue looked to Comic!Rogue, mouthing "Told you we'd need these," while shaking her glass. Movie!Logan glared at Movie!Rogue, growling softly at the glass. She smiled cheekily.
Kat dropped her bomb. "I need you to all sing Kum Ba Ya."
Comic!Wolverine laughed. "Fat chance, darlin'."
"Please?" Kat pleaded. "One chorus. Then I'll let you go home."
"And what if we refuse?" Movie!Logan asked.
Kat smiled evilly. "Well, I write Star Trek: The Next Generation fanfic too...And there's this author who did this whole series where she took Captain Picard and had him enjoying playing at being a little girl...frilly dresses...diapers..."
"No way. You wouldn't, it would interfere with your worship of my," he cleared his throat, "hunkiness," Movie!Logan challenged.
Kat looked to Movie!Rogue for backup. "Would I?" Kat asked her.
Movie!Rogue nodded. "Logan, she's pretty out there. She'd do it."
"I never said you had to like it, or even sing it loudly," Kat clarified. "Just kinda mouth along?"
The two Wolverines looked to each other and shrugged. "Better'n ending up in pink," Comic!Wolverine commented.
"True," Movie!Logan replied. "Or yellow spandex," he added.
Comic!Wolverine growled a little, looking away as --
"Kum ba ya, mah lord," Comic!Rogue started with a smothered chuckle. "Kum ba ya..."
Movie!Rogue joined in, "Kum ba ya my lord, kum ba ya..."
The Wolverines muttered along, with Movie!Logan looking suspiciously at Comic!Wolverine. "Kum ba ya my lord, kum ba ya...Oh Lord, kum ba ya."
Comic!Wolverine looked at Kat. "We done here?" he asked. When she nodded, he turned to Comic!Rogue. "Good luck out there, darlin'," he said, and bolted out the door.
Comic!Rogue broke out laughing. Turning to Movie!Logan, she said, "It's just mostly yellow spandex, but theah's black and blue and a hood's involved too. Pretty funny, because it forms horns, lahke your hairdo."
Confused, Movie!Logan raised an eyebrow at her.
She laughed louder. "His uniform, it's one of his uniforms, yellow spandex." She turned to Movie!Rogue and held out her arms. The two hugged. "How's about Ah let yah know if Ah come up with any control?"
Movie!Rogue turned to Kat, who nodded. "Sounds great to me," she replied. Comic!Rogue winked at Movie!Logan and made her exit.
Movie!Logan looked at Movie!Rogue. "Do ya see what happens when ya make me take ya along?" he asked.
Movie!Rogue nodded. "Uh-huh. You free next Friday?"
Kat laughed, leaving the bar and the two characters she loved. //Time to post this sucker.//
--end--
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000
Author's Chapter Notes:
A result of my brilliant statement: "Maybe someone should write a fic where the comicverse and movieverse characters have a conversation or something and at the end start singing Kum Ba Ya. ;)" Jamie spotted a rabid plot bunny heading my way, so here it is. I don't want any flames or any complaints, but constructive criticism is fine. I'm more movie than comicverse, so I'm relying on Internet accounts of the comics. Hopefully I'm passable. ::ducks again:: Text in // // are thoughts. Sorry for the possible un-timeliness of the posting, but I had to wait for my comic fan boyfriend's approval. I gave it to him May 21. He reads slow. ;) I'll post the last two parts only if I get feedback. :) Thanks to Jamie for her beta! Comicverse timeline is when Rogue is off looking for Destiny's diaries. Luckily the comics have said Wolverine is her liaison to the mansion.