The annoying click of the clock was the only sound as Rogue sat alone in the bright kitchen, a cup of lukewarm coffee clasped between her palms. The entire house was silent, calm, and peaceful yet she couldn’t relax. She’d spent the night wide awake, spent the hours wondering what was happening, if Logan was okay.
A soft sound drew her attention and she watched Angel walk into the room. Dressed in nothing but a pair of sweats and what was obviously Piotr’s shirt the other woman looked nothing like the polished creature Rogue was used to seeing. Her face was blotchy, swollen, silent witness to the tears that had been shed during the night.
“You okay?” Rogue whispered, loathed to break the silence.
“Will be.” Angel replied reaching for a cup and pouring a coffee for herself. “How ‘bout you?”
“Tired of waiting, wondering.” Rogue fidgeted. “How do you do this? How can you be so cold one moment and yet be so loving, be so understanding toward these kids?”
Angel shrugged and looked at her, “Because I know these kids. I was one. I didn’t run away because I was a mutant, I ran away to escape the sick pervert my mother married. See I’m not as generous as you think.”
“You give more to these kids than anyone ever has” Rogue disagreed before changing the subject. “The ones that were brought in last night, what happens to them?”
“Depends. If there are parents that want them, love them enough to go through hell to get ‘em back they’ll go home. If not, they’ll be placed within the system. They’ll grow up somewhere far away from New York State. Most of these kids will be sent west, split into separate groups, separate homes.”
“You built all of this because Logan gave you a hand up?” Rogue gaped at her, beyond amazed that what most would consider trash had the capacity to be so open hearted, especially considering her background. “That seems a bit…”
“I had nothing else to do. I’m tired Rogue, tired of watching babies dying, of seeing kids getting hurt, getting treated like objects. You have no idea what it means to know that you are nothing more than a piece of plumbing. I pray you never understand it.”
Both women turned to the window at the sound of a car door closing, tensing as they waited to find out if it was bad or good. They breathed a sigh of relief when Piotr and Logan walked through the door looking tired, rumpled but otherwise fine.
Catching the look in Logan’s eyes, Rogue wondered if she really wanted to ask what had happened. There was a haunted look, a deep sadness that fed a ready temper and a simmering anger he was barely keeping in check.
“Judgment?” Angel asked softly.
“Enforced.” Piotr moved to hold her, “Completely. Any trace was disposed of, even the floor got wiped.”
Angel smiled weakly, “I’m gonna check on the kids…”
“You can sleep now,” Piotr touched her cheek gently. “You need it.”
Angel searched his expression for a moment before nodding, “I’ll just check on the kids before I got to bed. Coffee’s fresh and hot if you want it.”
“Why don’t you go on up,” Logan suggested looking at an exhausted Rogue. “Piotr said you were probably given a room.”
“I want to know…”
“No. You don’t.” Piotr replied nudging her out of the chair. “Go. Logan’ll be up as soon as he’s unwound enough.”
Rogue looked between the two men before she turned and hurried out of the room. She didn’t want to know the details of what had happened; all she wanted was the man she loved back safe and sound.
When both women were safely out of hearing distance Logan turned to Piotr. “You gonna answer my question?”
“No. Not mine to tell.”
“Bullshit.” Logan growled. “You ripped him apart, you used your mutation against a human in a way that even Creed couldn’t have done. You allowed your emotions to get the better of you and there is no way you did that just for those kids.”
Piotr shrugged, “Is it so important that you know…”
“Yes it is. If you don’t know it yet, I’ll explain it. One day you’re gonna wake up in a cold sweat thinking, oh my god what have I done. You’re a good man Piotr; you need a reason to act that way. You’ve always been an honest person, don’t hide behind a lie – especially when its yourself you’re lying to because it don’t work.”
“My reason just walked upstairs to go to bed.” Piotr poured a coffee. “She’s everything in this world that I want. It’s taken me a long time to get her to trust me, a long time for her faith in men to be restored and I won’t let anyone or anything jeopardize that.”
“Who was he?”
“He made her what she was when you picked her up.” Piotr whispered painfully. “Nightmares, scars, and all. He took a happy, beautiful little girl and made her into a bitter, twisted, thing that could be used. Only he didn’t get what he thought he was getting. I had every right to rip his heart out and I’m not ashamed for killing him.”
Logan nodded slowly, understanding dawning. Monsters like that never went backwards. Once they began their sick crimes, they only got worse until they were stopped. “Get some sleep.”
“Does this change how you see me? How you see us?” Piotr paused in the doorway.
Logan stared at him for a moment. He could see the fear and the uncertainty in the tall Russian’s frame and sighed. “Not in the way you think it does.”
With a quick nod, Piotr disappeared into the rest of the house leaving Logan to his thoughts and a half finished pot of coffee. The lines had been drawn in blood, the end result would no doubt be costly but would he change the way things played out? Knowing what those men had been doing, Logan shook his head. He couldn’t stop someone from doing what needed doing, even if it meant that the gutters ran red.
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