Ten minutes later, Rogue had to admit to herself that the promising start to the drive had quickly descended into what threatened to be the most boring sixty minutes of her life. She kept glancing to her right at Logan or into the mirror, hoping to catch Jubilee’s eyes or even Remy’s. Those two only had eyes for each other, though. In any other circumstances it would have amused Rogue to see the hot looks flashing between them. After all, with two such combustible personalities, let along mutations, that could definitely turn out to be an interesting pairing. Right now all Rogue wanted was a distraction from the man sitting next to her, though.
“So, Remy, Jubes was telling me how much she’d love to see some more of New Orleans before heading home. Ah was thinking you might know a few places Ah hadn’t thought of,” Rogue said as casually as possible, totally ignoring the quickly choked squeak from her friend. After all, she couldn’t let Jubilee be all noise and no action, could she?
In the rear view mirror, Remy’s eyes lit on Jubilee as he grinned. “Really, chere? Remy does know maybe a few places you might like to see,” he said cryptically.
Rogue heard Logan snort softly beside her, and she couldn’t help but smirk. She knew he was thinking that Remy was going way overboard. He was probably right, but it was funny to listen to. It was definitely a way to beat the boredom of the drive ahead, egging on the flirtation between two good friends.
“You should take her to Frenchmen Street. We didn’t get there the last few times she came here,” Rogue suggested.
“Do you like jazz, chere? Frenchmen has some of the best jazz ever created. It will break your heart then fix it right back up,” Remy said, an unexpectedly poetic statement like he was sometimes capable of.
“Oh, that sounds wonderful,” Jubilee gushed. Rogue rolled her eyes and kept driving even as Logan snorted again.
Instead of finding the budding lust between her friends distracting, Rogue began to let her mind wander as their banter took on a sort of droning quality. As usual when he was nearby, her thoughts reluctantly turned to the man next to her and the situation ahead of them beyond the current mission.
Rogue knew that she would have to quit hiding eventually. She was pretty sure she was in a better mental place than she had been in years. She knew who she was now in a way that she never had before. She also acknowledged to herself that Logan was right earlier. Her new abilities and the way she felt about them meant that she would be returning to the X-Man fold, sooner versus later. That would mean dealing with how she felt about living in close proximity to Logan once again.
On one hand, the thought that she would be seeing Logan every day sent a little thrill through Rogue. As much as she hadn’t wanted to admit it, she missed him. She missed hearing his voice, the times they managed to enjoy the simple pleasure of hanging out whenever he wasn’t wallowing in guilt and sorrow at what fate had forced him to do. She missed looking up and seeing him standing at a window looking out, tracing the line of his body with her eyes and wishing it was her hands. In a way, he was like a drug to her, one she had forced herself to quit because she was drowning in him as much as he was drowning in the liquor every chance he got.
The question at this point was whether or not she was strong enough to resist the drug. Could she go back to the mansion and ignore how much she needed him, wanted him? Did she want to ignore it, and if she didn’t, what would happen?
Logan did his best to ignore the idiotic banter behind him as Jubilee encouraged that ridiculous Cajun to flirt with her. Really, how much smarm was that guy going to spread, and how in the world was it working on women who otherwise he would say were some of the smartest he knew?
He realized that allowing his thoughts to travel along those lines was probably a little dangerous for his sanity, but Logan couldn’t help wondering how Rogue had gotten mixed up with him in the first place and exactly what their relationship had been like. Of course, he couldn’t ask her. No matter how much he wanted to.
A quick glance to his left showed that Rogue was frowning ahead, her grip on the steering wheel turning her knuckles white. Logan couldn’t help himself. He reached over and put his hand over one of hers.
“We’ll get them out,” he said quietly, assuming that she was thinking about the captive mutants and their children.
“Hmmm…oh, yeah, Ah know,” Rogue answered absently. She flashed him a small smile, the first true smile he had seen directed at him since his arrival. The smile almost distracted him from the disquiet he saw in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” He still spoke quietly enough not to be heard over the banter in the back seat.
Rogue shook her head. “It’s nothing. Ah’m just…thinking.” Her voice was equally quiet.
“About?”
“The future.”
That threw Logan for a moment. She seemed tense; did she feel like the future was so grim? He decided that nothing could be hurt by asking.
“What’s so bad about it?”
Rogue’s lips twisted. “Did Ah say it was bad?”
Logan shook his head. “No, but you looked like you think it will be.”
She shrugged, loosened her grip on the wheel and let out a long breath. “No, Ah don’t think it will be. Ah hope it won’t be.”
He frowned. “That doesn’t sound like you’re very sure.”
“Ah’m not.” She shook her head and then seemed to perk up. “They’re turning off. I think we’re close.”
Suddenly all of the attention in the car was focused ahead of them. Logan scanned the lengthening gloom, anxious to get this mission completed with all mutants safe and as many of those bastards dead as he could manage. Then he could focus on what the hell was going on with Rogue.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
And now to get this one back on track...
Chapter End Notes:
And next, some action! (Unfortunately, not in bed...yet!)