Diner was a calm and peaceful process she hadn’t thought possible considering her location and associate. She got her roll, and it was in fact the best damn thing her tongue ever made contact with. It had a soft, buttery taste to it with that faint essence of salt. The exact kind of rolls her mama told her not to eat, less she’d get fat. Since she didn’t figure that was going to happen any time soon she scarfed the whole thing without a twinge of guilt. It even had the added benefit of soaking up the last remaining gurgles in her stomach. A true miracle roll.
Not only did dinner include the best roll ever made it also had a show. Wolverine ridded the tray of every little, tiny, minuscule scrap of food in a matter of minutes. Except for the beets. If the way his face scrunched up every time he picked one up and lifted in near his face was any indication he didn’t like them very much--- at all. She would have laughed at him but said face would have given the raging beast-man down the hall of run for his money so she zipped up for safety. But for some reason he was damned determined to get them down. Needless to say she enjoyed the performance very much.
Soon enough he swallowed the last of them and grunted at her before disappearing into his darkness. Surely it was some sort of ‘thank you’ but she didn’t get to think of it much before the sluggishness finally took over and dragged her out of the meanness of reality.
She might have not heard the elevator opening and she probably didn’t hear so much as feel the heavy steps of boots moving down the corridor. She opened her eyes and sat up just in time to see one of the guards aiming a gun.
A whistle instead of a pop accompanied her scream when it fired straight through the bars into Wolverine’s cell. Two other guards followed with similar shots shortly after and she willed her body up and to the bars and managed to shove against the next one’s calf, throwing his shot off.
“Stop it! Stop it ya bastards!” She screamed deliriously at them.
“You just stay the hell out of this, Rogue. And get the fuck away from the bars!” Theo yelled from behind several men.
She swore under her breath at them and spun around to bars adjoining Wolverine’s cell. He was growling and thrashing fiercely from somewhere she couldn’t see but at least it meant he was still alive.
“Wolverine. Wolverine, sugah, ya alright?” She tried to whisper as quietly as she could but one of the guard’s laughter rang out.
“Aw, little girls were always softies for puppies.”
“Shut it you nimrod,” Alvin snapped. And then suddenly he appeared out of the crowd and kneeled down in front of her cell. “He’s fine, Rogue. Just some tranqs.”
“Why?” She quipped back, fighting the urge to reach through the bars and grab his cheek.
Alvin sighed and looked up and then men behind him briefly before looking back at her. “It’s not of your concern, really. But the Colonel has a special job for him. We need to test what kind of damage several new prototypes of artillery we got will do to the body.”
Her eyes went wide in both shock and horror. “Ya...no, no! Please don’t! He didn’t hurt me that bad!”
Alvin’s top lip quirked up slightly as he pushed to his feet. “Relax. He’d have to do it any way, it isn’t because of you. Guys, it’s been a few minutes, let’s try and get him out of there.”
A few minutes evidently had not been enough. As soon as the first few men stepped into the cell she heard a slick ring but couldn’t get her eyes to shut soon enough before she saw Wolverine plunged what looked like shinny claws into the men’s torsos. And the blood dripping from his hands.
The screaming and panic from the guards went from there and she tried to root Wolverine on without actually having to open her eyes. Finally the whistling made her and the first sight she was greeted to was him stumbling back, six darts pointing out from his chest.
“Wolverine, no!” She yelled, although she wasn’t sure why. Even as he fell back onto his butt they kept firing into him. “Get up, get up!” She cheered and he actually looked over to her before he fell completely limp and unconscious.
Hours she waited. She wasn’t very good at telling time, having been removed from it for so long, but she was pretty sure it had been hours. In fact, she was positive. The trek back to her cot had been almost effortless. While her knee was still several lovely shades of cool colors in was down to a dull, vacant throb. Once there she started counting. At first the constant roaring down the hall kept making her miss her place but she was eventually able to tune it out till she basically didn’t even hear him anymore. And she just counted. Lots and lots of Mississippis went by.
She couldn’t remember how many times she passed sixty Mississippis sixty times, but it had to have been several. And finally the elevator door slid open. She quickly laid flat on the cot, going for the playing sleep trick. With one eye open she could make out them dragging something; she could only assume it was Wolverine.
They must have thrown him in his cell with some serious force because he landed with a loud slap that made her actually wince. Then they mumbled something to him that she couldn’t quite pick up but the way they broke out into laughter right after made her figure it wasn’t anything nice.
As hard as it was she stayed on her cot, her whole body just shaking with anticipation. The guards finally walked away. Slowly. Laughing the entire length of the hallway. The very second she heard the elevator close she jumped off the cot and nearly threw herself on the floor at the bars between their cells.
“Wolverine. Wolverine, talk to me,” she whispered frantically. She was just making him out in the dim light that came from her cell into his. The slapping noise was the bare skin of his chest colliding with the floor because he was no longer wearing a shirt. From what she could see there didn’t appear to be any holes in him or chunks of flesh missing. The skin on his back and arms was dirty and stained, but everything appeared to be otherwise unmarred.
“Come on, big guy, get up. Please.”
He groaned and started to push his hand under him and she squealed. Her little celebration stopped when a nasty, dry cough racking threw him, making even the muscles of his back bunch and shake.
“Are...are ya okay?” She asked looked over him again.
“Fine,” he grunted through the coughs so that she wasn’t exactly sure it was a real word.
“Ya need water,” she pointed out. But he just shook his head as his body continued to quake. She narrowed her eyes in confusion at him. Didn’t he see he was going to choke if he kept that up? “Ya haveta get some water in ya. Can ya not reach the sink?”
He merely ignored her and balled himself up, one hand pressed flat against his chest and the other holding him face away from the floor.
She swore, frustrated at everything, especially him. Then she noted his sink and it was still in its same mangled state. So it probably didn’t work.
“Okay,” she started. “Do ya think ya can drag yaself ova here?”
He looked up from the floor, his dark hair hanging in his face and deep blue eyes glaring threatening at her. She pushed her fear back; it was her fault they took him.
“Can ya? Jus’...jus’ try, alright?”
He raised an eyebrow at her but started pulled his lethargic body closer and closer to her cell, grunting and moaning the entire time.
“That’s it,” she encouraged. “Go real slow.”
He stopped to give her another cold glare but a seizure of cough went off again in him. He slammed his fist down on the floor with each cough. And then the ringing noise sounded out again and three blades shot out from between the knuckles. She knew she gasped and jumped back and was afraid she offended him in her surprise. But his head was still hung down as he continued to dry hack.
Finally he made it to a sort of a sitting position right in front of her and she thought about patting him on the shoulder. Except something told her he probably wouldn’t appreciate that.
“Justa sec’,” she said and jumped to her feet. She limped quickly over to her own sink and turned on the cold tap. The water was cool immediately and she formed a bowl with her hands. She went back to him carefully, leaving the faucet running.
She could actually feel his eyes on her with each step but oddly enough that stopped bothering her some time during dinner. Once she got to him she realized her problem. She couldn’t kneel down, not with her knee. If she tried to give it to him standing up it would all end up just dumping all over his face. And if she sat down not only would she probably spill most of it he’d have to bend down to drink the rest and it was doubtful the bars would let him.
Noticing her stilled form he growled low at her. With those blades out she decided not to angry him any more and opted for standing.
“Okay, let’s see if we can get this,” she said with a sigh and stuck her hands through the bars. He immediately opened his mouth, the tips of her fingers touching his bottom lip. She tipped her hands down, letting the water fall. Sure enough it splatter all of his face, dripping down on to his chest.
He licked his lips, getting what he could off of them.
“Ah’ll get some more,” she promised and did just that. They repeated the process two more times before her knee started wobbly under her. They were wasting too much water. His chest was now drenched, streaking whatever was on him even more and he was still coughing.
“Damn it,” she swore to herself and looked from him to the sink. Then she took a deep breath and said a pray.
“Alright,” she pointed her finger at him. “Ah can’t keep walkin’ back an’ forth like this. We’re gonna have ta try somethin’ else.” He lifted a eyebrow at her. “Jus’...can ya get lower? Try layin’ on ya side.”
He sort of got a milder version of his beet face but eased back down onto the floor nevertheless. She steeled her nerves a little bit more and made her way back to the sink, this time having to hold onto the bars as she went to keep herself up right. When she made it she didn’t put her hand under but instead pulled her hair back and lower her mouth to the flowing water, drinking it in.
She got back over to him and wasted no time falling to her butt, eager to get off her leg. By the time she was scooting up close to the bars he figured out what she was planning and propped himself up on his elbow.
She lowered her mouth slowly until the bars pushed against her cheeks stopped her from going any further. He meet her the rest of the way and pressed his dry, rough lips against hers. She opened her lips slightly, letting gravity trickle the water gently into his mouth. Only one small drop leaked from between them, running down his chin.
She pulled away and he swallowed. “Betta?” She asked and he nodded, although for the first time his eyes weren’t fixed onto her.
“Ah...ah could probably make anotha trip. Ya need some more?”
His eyes came back up to hers and they shifted back and forth, making her slightly nervous. Then they fell again, this time landing on her knee. Quickly, she covered it with her hand, making him snap his eyes back up to her.
“Its fine,” she said with a rough voice. “Ah said ah could make it. Do ya need more?”
He shook his head. “No,” he said rough in the mist of a rumbling growl.
But she definitely heard it that time and smiled at him. “Ah like when ya talk. Ya sure?” He turned away from her and wiped his hand down his soaked chest, flicking some of the water off. She sighed at his silence. At least now she was sure he could talk, he just didn’t want to it seemed.
He turned back around when she whimpered as she pushed back to her feet. Instead of the sink she stumbled the much shorter distance to her cot. But she did not sit down; she grabbed one of the green blankets and made her way back over to him.
“Here,” she said as she held it between the bars.
He narrowed his eyes at the bundle of fabric, like it was threatening him. She rolled her eyes at his reaction and had to grab the bars again to stay up right. “Jus’ take it. If ya don’t want it ta sleep with at least ya can dry yaself off with it. Ya’ll get sick if ya don’t.”
He snorted, which actually made her happy because at least it wasn’t a growl. “Take it, sugah, so ah can go sit down,” she said again, this time her voice sounding every bit as tired as her face looked.
The minute he had his hand on it she let go and started the trek back to her cot. She fell against it with a plop, and the pressure on her knee instantly lightened. She laid back and turned on her side, again the pillow under her leg instead of her head, but by then she was use to sleeping like that.
“Wolverine,” she called softly even though he disappeared back into where the light of her cell didn’t reach and she couldn’t see him. “Ah’m glad ya okay.”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
I'm starting to really not like this story. Every time I try to sit down and work on it one of my teachers gives another assignment. Its a little bit freaky and totally sucky. :I