The heat of the crash went straight to the metal coating his bones, giving him the feeling he was being burned from the inside out. The Wolverine ignored the pain, trusting his mutation to knit together any important organs as fast as they were being scorched. He couldn’t stop, he had to get her out.
The twisted pieces of wreckage were nearly unrecognizable as having once been a plane. All his senses were under attack. He had to hold his breath in the heavy smoke. It obscured his vision, and everything was so hot, dry heat that made his eyes blur with tears. His sensitive nose was inflamed with the scent of metal tang, of burning rubber and the alarming undertone of fuel. He had to hurry.
Finally, he peeled away the scrap of metal that had once been the hull. Wolverine found her, body miraculously not crushed, but any hopes he might have had were dashed just as quickly; she was too still, an empty shell, lifeless. Her once perfect skin was marred by shiny burns, her green eyes glassy, and matted blood turned her blonde hair rust. Not intact, no, he’d missed it; the back of her skull had been smashed in the impact, spattering gray and pink flecks of flesh. He used his claws to cut through the straps anyway, his mission now to recover the body.
As he lifted the remains of his once-partner, he realized he’d missed something again, he thought vaguely he must be slipping. His ears had caught a groan and a shift of movement; another body under the first, this one clearly very much alive. He didn’t have time to think about his decision, the whole wreck could go up in a blaze at any moment. He let the body he held slip down, exchanging it for the living one, slinging the girl -it was just a girl, a slip of a thing- over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.
He barely had time to whisper, “Sorry, Danvers,” and he was running, half crouched, as fast as he could from the crash site, girl bouncing none-too-gently on his shoulders. It was just as well, he felt as much as heard the explosion behind them. There was no time to mourn and linger. The Blackbird was already revved and waiting, no one stopped to question his cargo as he swung inside, he was hardly in before they’d taken off, letting the battlefield fade to nothing behind them.
---
In the next days, the mansion conversed in whispers, the hallowed pall that always followed fresh death. This one, however, was different, this death was special and a buzz of rumor thrummed beneath the hush, and endless discussion of extenuating circumstances. The invulnerable hero cut down in her prime, and a broken bird brought home in her place, said to be secluded in some hidden corner of the mansion’s underbelly. The students ran rampant with gossip, and the teachers looked grave.
In a soundproof office, the Wolverine paced like a caged animal, shouting around the unlit cigar in the corner of his mouth. “I told you, I made a fucking mistake!”
“And as I said, Logan,” the Professor replied in his infuriatingly calm clipped voice, “You did the right thing.”
“That thing doesn’t belong here. She fucking killed Ms. Marvel. I should have left her there.” The rage coming off the man was so intense any telepath whose mental blocks were lesser than Charles Xavier’s would have been hard-pressed to be in the same room as him.
“She is just a girl, Logan. Leaving her would have accomplished nothing. All life, after all, is precious,” the mild conviction in his tone was that of one who whole-heartedly, and without doubt, believed firmly in his words.
The Wolverine was too blind with grief and anger for any truth to register in the Professor’s statement. “It’s a damn monster. It shouldn’t be here.”
“Come now, the Rogue is certainly troubled, and all the more reason she needs us. Jean Grey and myself are obliged to do all we can to help her reach mental stability.”
He might as well have spoken to an empty room. Wolverine stalked out, slamming the door behind him.
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000
Story Notes:
Hmm. Bit dark, this one.
Blending some canons here to create my own... but isn't that the point of fanfic?
Blending some canons here to create my own... but isn't that the point of fanfic?
Author's Chapter Notes:
A few lines of slightly graphic description ahead.
Chapter End Notes:
Reviews? Hatemail?
I'll probably keep the chapters short here, it gives me more incentive to update often, even daily. Let me know.
I'll probably keep the chapters short here, it gives me more incentive to update often, even daily. Let me know.