His bare feet slipped against the dew that clung to the summer grass but he was in too much of a hurry to fall. From a few yards away he could tell nothing had moved in the shed, not even another sound was heard, just the dust and the earth settling around it’s once grand structure. Two familiar figures were running from the other side of the mansion.
Logan slowed his pace down as he spotted the alarmed expressions on both Bobby and Pete’s faces, both of them still in their pyjamas as well but their eyes were alert.
Bobby’s arm was iced up as he focused on the shed ready for an attack. “What the hell was that?” he exclaimed towards Logan.
“I don’t know,” Logan responded. “Something fell from the sky and crashed into the shed.”
Bobby’s expression of concern immediately turned to dumbfounded. “Whaaa...?”
Logan shrugged at his inability to articulate and headed back on course towards the shed annoyed by the interruption.
“Perhaps, we should wait for back up,” Pete called after him in concern, but Logan was already running.
At first it was hard to see through the fog of displaced earth as he made his way through the broken door. Tools lay around scattered everywhere; the whole place looked like a bomb had gone off. Stepping carefully around the destruction he moved closer to where there appeared to be a hole in floor and the earth under it.
Sudden coughing behind him caught him off guard. Bobby stumbled behind him with wide eyes.
“What the hell could have done this?” he gasped as his eyes watered.
A large ripping sound was heard as Pete removed and lifted the half hanging door off the shed as he took up the rest of the doorway.
“Logan is everything alright?” he called through.
Tentatively, Logan moved closer towards the indent in the ground, as the thick air around them finally settled.
“Holy Shit!” Bobby exclaimed.
“Go and get Hank now,” Logan yelled.
Stumbling to his knees beside him Bobby stuttered as he looked on in awe. “Is that..?”
Abruptly, Logan snarled in his face and grabbed the front of his shirt and hauled him forward. “Didn’t I tell you to go and get the doc?!”
Bobby gulped deeply and nodded.
“Then go!” Logan roared.
Bobby stumbled back and ran out the door in a hurry.
“Logan?” Pete inquired again in concern, but he was aware enough from witnessing Logan’s actions to keep an amount of space.
A commotion could be heard outside of the shed as a crowd gathered.
“What happened to interrupt my beauty sleep?” Jubilee’s high voice rang through the murmuring crowd.
“Logan?” another voice called forward, as Storm’s head poked through the doorway. “What has happened? Are you alright?”
Sitting on his haunches by the large hole in the earth, Logan glanced at her, his eyes a little vibrant, the need for coffee long gone.
“Just get me Hank,” he growled dangerously low, his eyes quickly flashing back to the hole.
“Just get me Hank,” he whispered again, as he reached forward tentatively and trailed his bare hand across the familiar gloved one.
“Dear Goddess,” Storm gasped breathless behind him as she stepped forward.
A sudden motion on the still intact wall caught their attention as half of Kitty’s body phased through, her eyes went wide immediately. “Rogue!”
“What?!” Jubilee’s shrill voice followed from outside and Kitty was suddenly pulled back outside the wall.
Logan’s attention was back on the still body that lay atop the earth. Despite the destruction, Rogue appeared almost peaceful. Her hair was a little shorter; her cheeks more defined but the white bangs shone at him like a familiar beacon. He couldn’t explain it but somehow the mutant they all knew as Rogue lay in the middle of the destruction around them. Her eyes closed. Her voice silent. The story to be told was unknown to them all but for Logan suddenly it was enough to see her again in front of them.
Storm moved closer, as she bent down, her hand outstretched to touch Rogue’s arm and Logan found himself snarling in response. She backed up immediately with surprised eyes.
“Hank,” he muttered again, his voice a guttural growl.
“Is she alive?” Storm asked in concern, her voice a little shaky.
“She’s breathing and she has a heartbeat.”
Storm nodded once, her jaw dropping by the second as she tried to make sense of the scene before them.
“Are you sure...sure it’s her?”
Logan flared his nostrils and tilted his head, unconcerned for pretences. “Yes.”
A rustling was heard behind them as Hank stumbled through the door. “Is it really true?” he gasped. “Bobby said...”
Logan bolted right up and pulled Hank forward. “You tell me,” he growled.
“Oh my...” Hank gasped as his eyes fell on Rogue.
Logan pushed Hank closer. “What’s the prognosis doc?”
Hank’s eyes roamed the destroyed shed twice before falling back on Rogue.
“I have no idea.”
“Perhaps,” Storm interrupted them. “Hank, you should examine Rogue with Logan’s help alone,” she spoke tightly. “See if it is okay to move her to the lab.”
“Yes, yes of course,” Hank stuttered. “Excuse my shock; that would be the correct action.”
“Everyone out,” Storm commanded.
It took her several more commands to get everyone finally moving out and away, the shock moving from one person to another like a paralyzing disease.
Logan ignored the looks and the gossiping behind him, his gaze still fiercely focused on Rogue. He wasn’t sure if it was real. Was it a twist of fate that somehow the very thing he’d wanted, had been thinking, had landed literally in his backyard. He learned long ago not to trust such gifts but as Hank’s voice spoke to him, telling him she was remarkably okay to move he finally felt the first shock of energy move through his body, as both his senses and mind awoke. Because the time had come for him to throw routine out the window.
Because when the one person, the one woman on the whole earth who is a constant thought in the back of your head disappears and then reappears in your life so suddenly, it’s a hell of a thing to be alive. Coffee be damned, nothing like the door to the past being ripped open and flung in your face. That’s a certain kind of wakeup call that cannot be ignored.
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