The ground vibrated with every step the monster took, trees swatted aside as it strode towards them. The junior X-Men formed a defensive line, dodging the blasts from its eyes. Marie crouched low to the ground, bringing the Logan in her mind to the front and feeling a snarl twist her lips. Her vision sharpened letting her see through the smoke.
‘There’s another one behind it!’ she shouted in warning as Kitty phased out, letting a rock fly straight through her. Bobby shot a stream of ice at the sentinel’s feet, freezing it in place as Remy charged his cards and flicked them at its head. Its optic blasts shot straight for them. Kitty phased again, Marie threw herself to the floor and Pete guarded Jubilee, his mutation bouncing the rays back to the sentinel. Jubilee added her sparks to the mix from behind her shield, giving a small whoop as the metal giant keeled over, the light fading from its eyes.
The second sentinel marched up and began the same routine as before, optic blasts raking the forest floor as debris flew through the air. One blast caught Remy, throwing him backwards into a tree. He fell forwards and didn’t move. Marie looked around at the others. Bobby was desperately trying to put out some of the fires that surrounded them, Pete was crouched over an unconscious Jubilee and Kurt was teleporting from place to place, avoiding the blasts. There was no sign of Kitty. She growled a curse in frustration and closed her eyes again.
It was only very recently that she had discovered she could use the talents of the people she had absorbed, and she had yet to tell anyone. Things were still slightly uncomfortable, the others not really understanding why she took the cure, and Marie feeling useless in battles like this. She crouched lower and summoned the Magneto in her mind, ignoring the growling of her Logan. She felt her fingers hum as she slowly moved towards the sentinel. Having no idea of the strength of the power she wielded, Marie desperately hoped it would be enough to disable the giant as she raised her arms and dropped her head back. The world came alive, thrumming through her body. She could feel every inch of the metal before her, finding the weaknesses. Summoning everything she could, she wrenched the metal casing apart, revealing the circuits inside the sentinel. Her eyes lost their focus as she crushed them, shredding the wires and ripping out the metal monster’s heart. The sentinel crashed to the floor on top of its brother and lay still.
There was a deafening silence as the others stared at it, then at Marie. The world around them flickered then vanished, the computer’s calm voice informing them that the simulation was terminated. Logan and Ororo strode into the Danger Room, Logan casting her an intense look before checking on Remy, who was still slumped on the floor.
‘Well done. You worked well together,’ Ororo said, looking around the group. ‘We’ll debrief later after you’ve cleaned up. Pete and Bobby, can you take Jubilee and Remy to the infirmary. Hank will be there in a minute.’
Logan moved to stand next to Marie as she stared blankly at the floor. ‘You okay?’ he asked gently. She turned to look at him and he grimaced, feeling his metal skeleton hum. Her eyes widened in shock and she took a step away from him. ‘Hey, it’s okay,’ he said. ‘I didn’t know you could do that.’
‘Neither did Ah,’ Marie stammered, breathing deeply and shoving Magneto to the very back of her mind. She noticed Logan relaxing slightly and realised she’d stopped tingling. She ran a hand through her tangled ponytail and sighed.
“You want to talk about it?” he asked, watching her face closely.
‘Yeah,’ she nodded, looking vaguely relieved, before she wrinkled her nose. ‘But first Ah’ve got to have a shower.’
Logan smirked. ‘Good idea.’
‘Hey! I don’t smell that bad!’ Marie smacked his arm.
‘That’s what you think, darlin’’ he sniggered, dodging another whack.
* * * *
As Logan made his way upstairs he listened carefully to the sounds of the mansion. The children were trooping indoors, tired, happy and chattering away. They had been enjoying a game of touch football under Hank’s supervision while the junior X-Men were in training. Things were slowly recovering after the shock of losing not only Jean, but Scott and the Professor. They were stretched running the school, with only him, Ororo and Hank remaining from the original X-Men, but they were making it work. Marie, Kitty and Bobby had taken teaching positions here when they finished their schooling, making things easier, but the atmosphere was different. The kids knew now that there were no guarantees; someone you loved could be ripped away without a moment’s notice. They learnt their lessons, and worked on their mutations, but all the teachers had noticed a new wariness in them, a new determination to master their powers and join the fight.
‘Logan, hold on a minute,” Ororo called, hurrying to catch him up. “What happened?’
‘Not sure yet,’ he grunted.
‘Okay, let me put it this way. Did Rogue use Magneto’s power to destroy the sentinel?’
‘Looks that way,’ he replied, grinning at her sigh of frustration and relenting. ‘I’m going to have a talk with her once she’s cleaned up, see what she says.’
‘How long has she been doing that?’ Ororo asked, looking concerned.
‘She said she didn’t know she could do it, but the last week or so she’s been making me hum every now and then.’ He growled at Ororo’s snort of laughter. ‘I mean she’s been making my metal hum. Get your mind out of the gutter.’
‘You don’t seem all that worried,’ ‘Ro commented.
‘Why should I be?’ Logan quirked an eyebrow at her.
‘Well, if she really can manipulate metal to that extent, she could snap you in half if she wanted.’
‘Exactly: if she wanted. Which she doesn’t. And wouldn’t.’
‘I’m glad we cleared that up,’ ‘Ro mumbled, shaking her head. ‘Let me know how it goes.’
‘Will do.’
* * * *
Rogue stood under the hot water for a long time, letting her mind drift back to the Danger Room session. Her fingertips tingled as she touched the metal showerhead. She waved her hand back and forth, watching the temperature stick follow her hand, the water getting hotter then colder. She finally turned the shower off and wrapped a towel around herself. The girl’s changing room was deserted. Jubilee was in the infirmary, and Marie knew Kitty would have given up waiting for her to finish her shower.
Dressing quickly and blow-drying her hair, she made her way to the kitchen, her stomach rumbling. The room was deserted except for Logan nursing a beer by the window.
‘Hey,’ she said, moving to the fridge.
‘Hey,’ he replied, watching her move. ‘Enjoy your shower? You smell better.’ He grinned as she threw a piece of bread at his head, impaling it with a claw and taking a bite.
‘Ah had a very nice shower, thank you for asking.’ Marie quickly put together a sandwich and moved over to sit with him. He let her eat her food in peace, watching her as she stared out of the window, her shoulders slumped. Her tongue darted out to lick her lips, and Logan shifted uncomfortably, highly aware of the fact that his jeans seemed tighter all of a sudden. What was it about this woman that the simplest of gestures had him as randy as a teenager on a first date? As soon as his desire flared, it faded, replaced with guilt as he thought of Jean. Furiously telling himself to concentrate, Logan cleared his throat.
‘So…’
‘Ah think my mutation’s coming back,’ she blurted, surprising him completely.
‘What do you mean, coming back? You took the cure,’ he frowned, watching her eyes fill with tears as she wrapped her arms around herself.
‘Ah can feel my skin tingling sometimes, like it used to. Ah brushed against Kitty yesterday and Ah could see what she was thinking and feeling.’
‘I touched you yesterday, more than just a brush, and nothing happened,’ he pointed out. He could smell the misery coming off her in waves.
‘Ah know, that’s what Ah don’t understand. Ah killed one of ‘Ro’s plants this morning. Ah was picking some flowers for my room, and everything was fine, then suddenly Ah tingled and it was dead. Just like that. It was never that bad before.’ Marie scrubbed at her face with her hands, wiping away the tears that had escaped. Logan shifted again and Marie shot him a look. ‘What?’
‘You’re making me hum again,’ he confessed, wincing slightly. He admitted to himself that the sensation wasn’t actually bad, but it wasn’t helping his concentration at all.
‘What exactly is that supposed to mean?’ Marie demanded, her eyes narrowing. She was trying to tell him how she was feeling, and all he could think about was getting it on?
‘You’re giving off vibes, Magneto vibes, and it’s playing merry hell with my adamantium,’ Logan quickly explained, his breath catching as the feeling intensified with her anger. Suddenly it vanished and he slumped back into his seat.
‘God, Ah’m sorry Logan, Ah didn’t even know Ah was doing it,’ Marie gasped miserably. ‘Maybe this is my punishment for trying to get rid of my mutation.’ The tears began to leak from her eyes again as she put her head in her hands.
‘Hey, it’s okay Marie, I’m alright,’ Logan said soothingly, sliding round until he was next to her. He pulled her into his arms, but she lurched backwards, here eyes wide with fear. ‘You’re not going to hurt me, darlin’. Just relax.’ Marie tried to hold herself back but Logan simply tightened his arms. She rested her head against his chest and sobbed.
* * * *
Marie gripped his fingers tightly, her nerves thrumming through her. Logan had persuaded her to come and see Hank and tell him about her powers. Hank had taken some blood and was staring intently into his microscope. Logan was drumming the fingers of his free hand, stopping every time she glanced at him, only to start again as soon as she looked away.
‘Well Rogue, I’m not sure what to say,’ Hank finally said, rolling his chair away from the microscope and rubbing his eyes. ‘It appears that your body is fighting the cure much as it would a disease. Its appearance and disappearance is something that baffles me, but I will run more tests. For now I would advise you to be cautious about touch. I am sorry, Rogue. I know how much it meant to you,’ Hank said softly, his eyes crinkling in sympathy.
Marie closed her eyes against the ever-present threat of tears and tried to pull her hand away, but Logan wouldn’t let her. She had put her gloves back on before coming down here, but she still didn’t feel safe touching him.
‘Do you know why it killed the plant? Marie used to be able to touch them with no problem,’ Logan asked, seeing that Marie was in a daze.
‘I won’t know until I run more tests. I’ll get the results to you as soon as possible.’ He patted Rogue’s shoulder gently, noting her flinch with concern.
‘Thank you Hank,’ Marie said softly, quickly leaving the room. Hank and Logan shared a look, before Logan moved to follow her.
* * * *
All the junior X-Men had assembled for their debriefing when Marie slipped in the back. No one noticed her arrival as she chose a seat at the back and buried her gloved hands in her lap. The chatter stopped as Storm and Logan walked in.
‘Okay, I hope you’re all feeling better,’ Storm said, smiling at Remy and Jubilee. ‘I was impressed with the way you worked together this morning. You did much better than before and you’re starting to focus more as a team. That being said, you have a long way to go yet. Can anyone tell me anything you did wrong?’
‘Getting in the way of a flying rock?’ Jubilee asked, ruefully rubbing the large bruise on her forehead. There was a general snigger.
‘Yes, that was one thing. You’re lucky Pete was watching your back,’ ‘Ro commented.
‘He was watching more than just your back,’ Kitty commented, a cheeky grin on her face as Jubilee fired a small spark in her direction.
‘What happened to the last sentinel? I was gone by that point,’ Jubilee asked. There was an uncomfortable silence, then Ororo looked at Marie. Before she could think of what to say, Logan jumped in.
‘We’re still sorting that out.’ His tone didn’t invite any more questions and Marie flashed him a small, grateful smile.
As the discussion moved on to more general points about the exercise Marie let her thoughts drift. She wasn’t quite sure how to react to the news that her mutation was coming back. Things hadn’t gone at all like she’d planned after she’d taken the cure. Despite the fact that he could now touch her, Bobby’s attraction to Kitty grew, until Marie and Bobby split up. Although she said she was fine with Bobby and Kitty having a relationship, they were still awkward when they were together in her company. Marie hadn’t taken the cure for Bobby, but not much had actually changed for her. Jubilee and Kitty still hugged her like they did before she could touch, and she was almost used to the occasional touches from Storm, but Logan was still the only one who really touched her, but he’d never been afraid to when her skin was still deadly.
The door to the map room flew open and a dishevelled looking Hank appeared, beckoning to Logan and Storm. They dismissed the junior X-Men before hurrying to follow the blue doctor.
* * * *
‘Moira MacTaggart was the doctor friend of the Professor’s, wasn’t she?’ Logan asked, looking confused.
‘Yes, she worked quite closely with him in the past, and sent him case studies for his classes,’ Hank replied as they hurried towards his office. ‘She said it was very urgent and concerned the Professor.’
‘She does know that he’s…’ Logan trailed off, not willing to finish the thought.
‘Yes Logan, she was here at the funeral.’
‘Oh. So what could be so important?’
‘Logan, I’m not a telepath. She told me to fetch the both of you so that she could tell us all together.’ Hank barrelled his way through the door and hit the speakerphone button.
‘Dr MacTaggart? We are all here.’
‘I’m sorry to alarm you, Dr McCoy, but it really is urgent,’ the voice floated from the phone.
‘What is it, Moira?’ Ororo asked.
‘It’s Charles. He’s here. He’s alive!’
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Author's Chapter Notes:
A little plot bunny that nagged and nagged until I gave in. I did cheat slightly, because I made Beast back into a doctor, but thats all, I promise!