It's dark and cold in here. I shiver as I clutch my duffle bag at my shoulder. I've never been in a bar before and I can't say that I'm really enjoying it.
I move carefully inside the door. It smells odd. Kind of stale like. The only light is from a barrel with a fire ragin' inside. I breath in carefully afraid if I pull in to deep a breath I might call attention to my self. As I move past the fire and a few people doin' things that ought be done in private I find my self drawn to the center of the room. As though somethin' is pullin' me there.
Nerviously I look around at the screamin' people. I can see better now. My eyes have gottin' used to the dark. This is like somethin' out of a Mad Max movie I think.
There is a heavy clangin' noise and I jump. My eyes rushin' to take it all in. The noise was from that huge metal cage in the center of the room. Helplessly I watch as they carry somebody out the door. A glint catches my eye and it is drawn irrevocably to the lone figure in back of the ring. I see that he ain't alone. That there is another man in the cage, but I don't here him as he yells. His face turnin' a sickly red. My eyes are on HIM. He isn't wearin' a shirt. The glass in his hand glinting in the florescent light from above the ring. I watch as he lifts it to his lips and drains it of the amber liquid.
I am taken by his presence. I am trapped by his isolation. It pulls me to him. I am aware of each ripple of his muscles. I've never seen a man partially clothed before.
Well, except my dad an he ain't like this man. I clench my fists as my eyes travel a path that I wish my hands could. A sheen of sweat on his back gives him a fiery glow. As though he were a soul trapped in hell. A hell not of his choosin'. I watch as a bead of sweat rolls down his spine and am stunned when someone moves in on him. Hitting him so hard that he staggers into the cage. Another blow sends him to one knee. I gasp as he catches himself with a bulging arm.
I can't move. I can't breath. I want to run to him. Want to--What is happening to me. I am frightened by my thoughts. I don't even know this man. But I do nothing. Not a thing. I am now transfixed by his profile. His face is pinched, but not in pain as I first thought. No it is rage. A rage that goes bone deep. A rage that I understand. It is the same rage I felt when I realized that no matter what I did I would never be able to touch another human being.
It is then that he rises to a kneeling position and lands his first punch. I could here the man's bones as they met his impenetrable fist. It was over so quickly. Then he was back his back to the ring. I replayed the whole scene once more in my mind. My eyes not leaving his back until he turned and looked me right in the eyes. My breath caught. His eyes impaled me to my very soul and I can't move. I can't breath and the only thing I can think as I watch him watch me is, 'Finally, I have found my destiny!'
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000
Story Notes:
I know kind of sappy, but I really felt that Rogue was feeling a little more than oh, wow, that guy is really strong when she first saw him. And I don't think it was a brotherly sisterly chemistry they had going. To much awareness. Continued in Souls Collide.