Chapter 14
Waking up feeling rejuvenated, that's odd. This has happened on some occasions, few, but there have been some. Vision is still blurry from sleep, also not something new. Eyes now beginning to focus. Slight panic. Heart begins to pump a little faster when the brain realizes something.
Not my room.
A deep inhale will calm me, right? Take a deep breath. Wait a minute.
A scent, familiar, apples and rain, female. Rogue.
The thumping of his heart becomes regular. Familiar is good.His gaze lands on the sleeping form of his friend, the numbness in his right arm no longer a mystery. Stifling a yawn with his fist, he adjusts his body weight to be more comfortable. Rogue's small frame stirs a bit and then relaxes, her face now pressed gently against his chest. He hears her breathing begin to change, a sign that she's beginning to wake.
Her limbs stretch out against him like a cat that has just awoken from a nap. "Mornin." She smiles brightly at him as she props her chin up on the palm of her hand. "Did yah sleep alright?"
"Yeah." Logan clears his throat. "And you?"
"Good, actually. Ah thought for sure that Ah wouldn't, but Ah slept just fine." She pulls the covers off and sits at the edge of her side of the bed, stretching her back.
"Oh, for what it's worth, I'm sorry..." His sentence is cut short when he sees her stand. Her pjs that are not leaving much to the imagination, suddenly become an unwanted distraction. A tiny green Tank top and some black and yellow boy shorts, not what he thought she'd be wearing. Turning his attention to the sky outside her window he clears his throat and continues. "If I woke you last night."
The southern bell turns round to face her friend to see that he seems flustered about something. She smiles. "Alright. A, yah don't need to apologize about nothing, it's alright. And B, what's got y'all bothered?"
He doesn't reply, just makes a deep throaty sound and continues to keep his eyes on the view outside.
She giggles at his chivalry. "Logan, sugah. Yah've seen me in a bikini, and on a rare occasions, nothin at all."
"That's different." He answers, serious and stern.
Not wanting to make him any more uncomfortable then he already is, Rogue covers herself with a robe. "Oh? How's that?"
"I didn't look." He admits. "That was forced on us. I made sure to keep my eyes where they belonged, and that was on those bastards standing in our way." He feels a hand squeeze his forearm.
"Ah don't know what tah..." Her face is mixed with feelings he can't register. "If yah were anyone else yah would have...Ah appreciate that."
He nods. "Anytime darlin."
She crawls up to him and he wraps an arm around her shoulder. "Ah have tah confess somethin."
"What's that?" He asks, arching a brow.
A giggle runs through her body. "Ah did look."
Intrigued and a little surprised Logan leans back against the wall. "Well, well." He smirks. "I hope you ain't laughing because of what you saw."
Her face turns a bright shade of red and her giggling stops. Ruby lips form a line across her face, her eyes now find the floor terribly interesting. Embarrassed.
Strange. He wonders how is it that she's embarrassed of that, when he, a grown man had to crawl up the stairs just hours ago to find himself standing in front of her door, hoping that she would provide him with some kind of solace.
*~*~*~*~*~
Drunk he had gone over everything he hated about himself, that Cajun and of course his long pursuit of a woman that he could never fully have. Even if he could, it would never work, they could never work. Why? Sure she new what he was, what he was capable of and maybe she understood it all. But she didn't want him the way he wanted her. Never would. All he would ever be to her was something she built out of lust. A longing for something different. A tease here, a comfort there. She was intrigued by this dangerous man who had this interest in her. He new deep down, that for her, he was the thing that built her inner fire, but nothing more. She wanted a taste of his inner beast, and nothing more.
*~*~*~*~*~
After all these years, he's finally come to terms with it all. And maybe Rogue has already done the same with her and Gambit. Maybe, she did a long time ago.
"You're not in love with him anymore, are you?" Even he's shocked at the words that leave his mouth, but he has to admit, he's curious.
The crimson color disappears from her face and she takes a deep breath. "No." A quivering smile plays across her face. "Ah haven't been for a while, I think." Her fingers push stray locks behind her ears. "Ah think Ah will always love him. But...he...we were not meant to be. And that's ok."
A deep exhale escapes her lips. "Ah think all Ah every really wanted to know was that he was alright. Happy even. Ah was ok with him leavin. The thing with Foxx, Mystique, whatever. Ah think deep down Ah was hoping he would leave me for some othah woman. So that in the end, Ah wouldn't have to be the one to really say it was over."
Logan understands what she's telling him, he can relate. "So this thing with Jean?"
"Yeah. Well Ah can't say Ah approve of what side of the fight he's on. But if she makes him happy then..." She trails off.
"But..." Wolverine leans forward, hoping she says what he's thinking.
"There's somethin just not right. Yah know?" She shrugs her shoulders.
Logan nods. "Yeah, I know..." It's his turn to stand and stretch. "I think Summers and Emma think the same thing."
Rogue continues to sit on the bed looking out the window. "Ah won't tell anyone."
Confused he glances over his shoulder to study her face. "About?"
"You're late night visit." She snickers.
He grabs his jacket off the back of the chair from where he had thrown it that morning and begins putting on his boots. "Doesn't really matter. People are bound to see me leaving at this hour." And honestly, why should he care?
Rogue turns to look at her clock. 11:23 am. "Oh, well maybe they are all still sleepin. Ah hear drinking and weekends tend to make one want tah sleep in."
Logan heads for the door, but stops as he's about to turn the door knob. "Thanks. I...you could have just sent me away..." Why does that thought bother him? Being sent away by her.
Rogue huffs in an attempt to silence him. "Enough. It's fine. Ah swear. Yah would have done the same for me."
"Bet you twenty bucks Summers calls us for a meeting in 1 hour." He opens the door and begins leaving.
"Ah say he calls it in twenty minutes."
*~*~*~*~*~
Twenty minutes later.
"Where's mah twenty bucks mistah?" Rogue holds out her hand.
"Yeah, yeah." The sore loser slaps two ten dollar bills into her hand.
"Why thank yah Wolverine." Her grin almost spreads from ear to ear.
Cyclops glances over at the two and decides not to ask. "Thanks for showing on time." He looks over the tiny group before him. Wolverine, Rogue, Iceman, Colossus and Kitty.
"Now first things first. This team isn't going to be big enough to handle what I have in mind. So I'm going to add to it. No questions asked." He looks across the room and they all nod agreeing.
"There are going to be things most of you are not going to like, but are necissairy. I want all of you to know that I've thought long and hard on this, and it really is the only way." Again, Scott looks them over. Now he sees that they are beginning to wonder, maybe even doubt him.
"Just spit it out already. You're making Wolverine tense, Rogue anxious and I'm getting really bored, no offence." Iceman leans his head from side to side trying to relieve some stress in his neck.
"Fine." Cyclops goes into his leader mode and clasps his hands behind his back. "For this team I'm appointing Rogue as Second in command, should something happen to me, she'll take over."
"What?" Shocked and a little uneasy with the idea, Rogue bursts to her feet. "Ah don't know if that is such a good idea."
"Is there reason I should doubt you?" Cyclops stands just a few feet in front of her now.
"Well, no. It's just there are other people who have more..." Rogue runs a hand through her hair trying to understand his logic. Wolverine has way more experience then her at being a team leader, so did Iceman for that matter.
"Listen." Scott rests a hand on her shoulder. "I trust your judgement. Sometimes you're a little rash. But your heart is always in the right place. I know you will always think of the mission first."
"Alright." She sits back down with a thud. Wolverine can see the worry in her eyes, but he knows that Summers is right on this one. For once they agree on something.
"Now, as for the additions to the team." Scott takes a deep breath. "I've decided to invite Mystique and Sabertooth to the mansion."
That's all it took, everyone in the room is in an up roar. Their argument can be heard from down the thall as Emma makes her way to them.
"This should be entertaining." She opens the door to see all of the team members yelling at Cyclops and in turn him yelling back.
"This has to be done. It's not up for discussion!" He points a finger at Wolverine.
"The hell it's not. I'm not stickin around for this shit!" Logan begins walking out of the room, Rogue and the rest not too far behind him.
"Listen. I have the blade. If anything goes wrong, you can use it." Scott explains. "But we need him."
Wolverine stops in his tracks, not turning to face this man they call leader. "I see anything I don't like, he's dead." Logan grunts out.
"Deal." Relived, Scott allows his shoulders to drop a bit, he still has one more fight ahead of him.
"Logan, you can't be considering this..." Rogue grabs hold of Wolverine's arm.
"If Slim thinks that what we got commin is bad enough to get that monster involved. Then so be it." He brushes her grip lose. "You might want to think the same way."
"Ah can't agree to let her be here." She feels the anger building in the pit of her being. "She's a terrorist. A trader. We can't trust her! And Ah don't know how you can just accept Creed." She whirls around looking at all her teammates.
"Rogue, we felt the same way about you at first." Kitty comes forward, trying to make a point. "You turned out to be a good thing. Why can't this?"
"What? Are yah hearing yourself?" Rogue can't believe what she's being told. They don't understand how different this is.
"She's right. We gave you a chance. Why not Mystique? Or Creed?" Iceman crosses his arms, beginning to see that there might be logic here. "And it's not like we're not going to be keeping a close eye on them."
"Ah can't believe any of this." Rogue turns to face her one hope. "Please tell me yah don't agree with this."
Logan shakes his head. "I don't. But what if something really big is coming. Doesn't mean I trust them for one second, doesn't mean I have to like it." He leans his weight against the door frame. "But you have to admit. We might need them."
"Fine." Rogue gains her composure and once more sits in her chair. "Lets go over the details then. If Ah have to be second in command of this mess, Ah want to know what we are going up against."
*~*~*~*~*~
A door opens to one of the guest rooms and The White Queen enters."Now, I hope you find everything you need here. These rooms have their own private bathrooms. This is your room." Emma nods to Mystique and then signals for Creed to follow her.
"And this is yours. Also, we've placed both of you at the end of this hall. Well lets be honest, because most people here are not to found of the fact that either of you are here, so this is the best place." Emma flashes both new comers a wicked smile. "Cyclops will inform you when the training will begin."
Emma begins walking down the hall and her smile disappears.
*~*~*~*~*~
It's dark, the air is hot and humid. Rubble surrounds the area from every angle, buildings are crumbling and falling apart. Clouds begin to form in the night sky and thunder begins barking. The team waits for orders.
Cyclops is hiding in the shadows of a building, crouched, surveying the scene. He signals Kitty to make her way through the debris. The girl nods and begins her task. Next the leader turns and looks to Wolverine, hoping that he might have caught scent of their near by enemy. He waits, sniffs and then points to an area just North East of them. Summers signals for the team to move in that direction.
Carefully, they make their way across. Seeing how dark it is, the leader signals Rogue to take flight to catch a better glimpse of what's going on. Then it happens.
Fire lights up the sky. A laughter of pure rage is heard thundering above them. "So you've come to play have you?"
Cards lit with explosive energy fly by and hit cement and rock, scattering the team of heroes. Iceman attempts to prevent some of the debris from hitting his teammates with an ice shield, while Wolverine charges for Gambit. But the team comes to a halt when a high pitch ringing begins assaulting their ears.
Just as most of the team begins falling to their knees, Kitty appears below Vertigo and pulls her into the ground. Focused, the group gets back to their feet and begins charging their assailants. A wall of fire erects just inches of their goal and they can see the wide grin on Gambits face.
A batal cry is heard. Wolverine and Cyclops look above them to see Rogue battleing Jean. The wall of fire is extinguished only to reveal that Gambit and the rest of his team are nowhere in sight.
"Shit." Cyclops whispers to himself.
"What the hell?" Wolverine's eyes follow the falling body of The Phoenix. He smiles and then stares up at Rogue to see her smiling back. Then his smile fades as he notices The Phoenix hovering behind Rogue. He should have known, to easy. "Look out!"
But it's too late, she turns only to be hit brutally in the face. Angered and seeing now that her enemy is on the run, Rogue takes flight faster. "Get back here!"
Then the unthinkable happens, for some unknown reason, Rogue begins plummeting towards the ground. Her eyes widen with fear, her hands flair out widely as if trying to grasp an invisible rope. The force of the fall from the height she had been but seconds ago cause her to black out. Her limp body continues to fall from the sky.
The Phoenix blows a kiss, waves bye to her chaser and then continues on her way.
With all the noise from the explosions and fighting, Wolverine can't hear Cyclops yelling, but there's no mistake what he sees in that mans face when he catches a glimpse of him. Pure Terror. Logan sees what Cyclops is pointing to and understands.
Not thinking, Logan leaves his opponent and dashes to his falling friend. Only seconds, you got seconds.His brain tells him that she's invulnerable, she'll live if he doesn't make it on time. But his gut and heart are telling him another story. Something is definitely wrong.
Pushing his body as hard as he can, he runs.
Seconds.
He can feel his heart thumping away, almost ready to explode.
Seconds.
His body tenses as he readies himself to jump.
Seconds.
Leaping from the peak of some rubble he catches her body and clutches her protectively. Effortlessly, he lands on his feet. Cradling her tiny frame, he sits and rests her lifeless form on his chest and arm. Cyclops footsteps are heard not far behind and Logan can hear him shouting commands.
"Simulation over! Get Emma in here! Wolverine?" Cyclop's jog comes to a halt as he sees the torso of the man he was searching for. "Is she?"
"She's alive. Just out." He tells the other man over his shoulder. "What the hell is going on?"
Lost for words Cyclops feels as if he's mumbling. "I...I don't know. Is she wearing her..."
Furious that their leader would even think of asking that, Logan feels himself shouting. "Of course not! You think she would jeopardize something like that?"
"No. I...no." Scott lets his head fall low. "Is she wounded?"
"Not that I can see. No blood or nothing. Why is she out? I mean, she's invulnerable. So why would the fall make her pass out?" Then he notices something. "Summers..."
Scott hears the urgency in the other mans voice. "What? What is it?" Then he sees it.
"How the hell is that possible?" Logan's eyes stay fixed on his bare arm, touching her bare abdomen. Her uniform must of been damaged somehow. He'd been cradling her this entire time, and nothing. No pull, no loss of energy, nothing. His blue eyes search for answers. "She's alive, she's just out...so how?"
"I don't know. Just wait for Emma." Cyclops begins shouting again. "Get Emma in here! NOW!"
"What if this hadn't of been an exercise? What if I hadn't of been... fast enough? Cyke?" Panic and fear now begin to be evident in his voice.
Cyclops clamps a hand down on Wolverines shoulder. "We'll figure out what went wrong."
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Author's Chapter Notes:
A/N :Wow it's been sometime since I've written anything for this story. Well this chapter was fun to write. It's full of more Ooooh's and ahhhh's ;) I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer : Yeah yeah, nothings mine :(
Disclaimer : Yeah yeah, nothings mine :(
Chapter End Notes:
Please R & R!! I hope to have more up soon :)