Five days after coming home to find that the changeling, and the money she would’ve brought them, had slipped through their fingers, John-David was finally hanging a new door in the gaping hole at the end of the upstairs hallway. They’d had to drive over two hours to get to a big enough town so no one would recognize them and ask probing questions about buying a new door. Mary thought he was paranoid. Yeah, evidently not paranoid enough if that little shit had been able to get out when they’d been so careful in the plans.
Now, out the cost of the door, gas to get a new one and no nice bonus for feeding her over the years. Though not having to pay to feed her for now on was going to help.
He wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve and swung the door a few times on its hinges, making sure it was smooth. Good. He slammed it, turned the lock out of habit and went downstairs to grab a beer. Instead of liquid relaxation he found his wife, seething, leaning on the kitchen table with their bank statement and a large stack of bills next to it. She pulled her hair back with sharp, jerky movements, telling him with without a doubt that he should’ve checked the mail before she could find any evidence.
“Did you seriously spend five thousand dollars on a timeshare condo? An UNREFUNDABLE five thousand dollars? When were you going to consult me? Obviously not before spending money we didn’t even have in our hands yet!?” Each sentence scraped his ears a little more with shrillness, making him want to slam her into a wall to stop the sound.
Instead of acting on the impulse, he went and got the beer from the fridge, popped the top and took a swig before finally meeting her eyes. “You have no right to question me. I’m the head of this household and I do what I want with my money. You’d do well to remember that.” He stalked toward her, watching with amassment as she backed out of his way. That’s right, bitch. Remember your place.
He pointed at her. “It’s your fault that we don’t have that money anyway. I know I never gave her a thing that would’ve helped her escape. If I’d had my way, she would’ve been up there with a bucket to piss in, eating bread and water rations. It’s good enough for people in prison, so it’s more than she deserved. But no! You said she had to have all that shit. Now, I’m stuck spending my Friday night fixing a door. And tomorrow, who’s excited, I get to burn everything you insisted was necessary.”
Mary shrunk back farther into the corner. “It’s because I thought she was still my daughter, at first. She looked so much like my little Marie, I didn’t want to believe she was dead and that that thing was in her place. It took me about a year to break out of denial and, by then, she’d get out of hand if we didn’t give her things now an again. And you don’t have to burn everything.” She hesitantly put her hands on his chest rubbing up in down, trying to appease him. Did she think he couldn’t feel her hands shaking? “I’ll take care of all of it tomorrow and you can go to your poker game over at Joe’s house.”
As it should be, he mentally congratulated himself on getting what he wanted without raising a hand. “Good. While you’re at it, you need to figure out how we can get that money. I don’t care if you come up with a way of getting to that little shit before Crane does or if you just decide to stand on a corner because it’s easier. Either way, get it done.”
He turned away from her slack-jawed face and grabbed the rest of the six-pack out of the fridge, heading toward the living room. He stopped in the hallway and turned back to her. “I know adultery is a sin but, in this house anyway, disobeying your husband is a greater one. If you go the hooker route, make sure they use condoms. Don’t want you bringing anything home.” She sank into a chair at the table and he settled onto the couch, remote in hand.
Oh, good. Baseball was on.
Baseball. Fucking Hell. He’d just managed to clean all the kids outta the common room so he could commandeer the big TV instead of watching on his own little set and there was nothing on but baseball. Who watched this shit? Great American past time, sure. Just further proof that he couldn’t be from America.
“Mr. Logan?” A 10 year old with brown curls poked her head around the doorjamb. “We heard you growling.” She nodded behind her where he could see several other heads. “Does that mean there’s no hockey? Can we watch The Little Mermaid?”
He frowned at the TV, rolled his eyes at the “argument” taking place over home plate and hit the input button, changing it over to DVD. “Yeah, squirt. Go. You’re all set. Have fun.” He watched the kids, all eight of them, pile onto the couch and jockey for position before ending up all over each other, facing the TV. He looked at the girl, who was now buried under a couple of five year olds, and saw the remote was out of her reach. Grabbing it, he pushed play before setting it in her hand, catching her smile. He grunted his welcome and dimmed the lights, walked out the door.
Crazy kids, he shook his head and started up the stairs, hearing a commotion up ahead. Logan managed to flatten himself against the railing just before an avalanche of Jubilee, Kitty and Rogue came tumbling through the spot he’d been standing in. “Good thing I have good reflexes,” he grumbled, getting a “Hi, Wolvie” from Jubes and a “Bye, Wolvie” from Kitty as they passed him.
Rogue just waved with the hand not holding a book, continuing her current tirade. “Girls, I was trying to find something new to read. I don’t understand why a Disney movie, which I’m sure all ya’ll’ve see millions of times, is big enough to pull me away from that.”
He could hear Jubes’ eyes roll. “You do that every day and you’ll go back to the library when it’s over, I’m sure. Roguey, you haven’t seen The Little Mermaid in over five years. That’s sacrilege. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a Disney princess movie as an adult.”
Kitty piped in, “It helps that Jubes has a crush on Prince Eric.”
“That’s gross Jubes. He’s a cartoon! How can you think a cartoon is cute? What does Remy think about that?”
“What Remy doesn’t know doesn’t hurt me!” Jubilee pushed the door open and he heard an overwhelming “SSSSHHHHHH” from the kids inside. “Yeah, like they said.” She pulled the other two into the room and shut the door behind them.
Logan shook his head again. Who was the Eric character? And ‘The Little Mermaid’? Sounded kinda interesting. Maybe he needed to find a copy of his own to watch. He heard warbling children’s voices singing through the door “Ah, we are the daughters of Triton. Great father who loves us and named us well…”. Well, if he watched it privately, he would be ok. As long as no one found out. Ever.
Later that night, having finally found a new book, Rogue grabbed her blanket and took the now familiar path through Logan’s room and out the window to the roof.
She’d settled into a good rhythm in her week at the mansion. She got up when Kitty and Jubes did, both were teacher assistants, and had breakfast with them. Then, she’d spend about an hour in the gym and another half hour running on the trails in the woods. The exercise was nice because it was one of the only things that had been basically the same in the attic as it was outside. Yeah, she had fancy equipment and more room now but still, the same. You put in the work, mentally and physically, and your body reaped the benefits. A simple give and take in a world that was no longer as simple.
Then, she’d shower and would spend some time outside reading, eat lunch at some point, normally with Logan, and hang out with the young kids who didn’t care who you were or what your story was, as long as you were willing to push them on the swings. Jubes and Kitty would find something for the three of them to do at night and they would end the evening on the roof, just chilling.
She’d met most of the mansion residents and all of them knew about her skin but nothing else. Not until she could decide who to tell what part of her story. On the upside, no one had asked probing questions except for Jean and Hank, evidently the resident doctors. And they had ended the questioning when she’d finally convinced them that none of her issues were physical. Jean hadn’t looked too happy when she’d found out that she hadn’t started therapy sessions with Xavier, citing some study about postponing therapy being detrimental to full recovery, but Jean was just going to have to deal. Rogue would get there when it was time.
She tucked the book, The Iliad, more securely under her arm and made her way carefully across the roof, hearing unexpected voices. Was she late tonight? She looked at the sky and saw that the sun still had about an hour before it sunk behind the hills overlooking the grounds. Nope, early actually.
She came around the corner just as Jubilee threw two cards into the middle of the blanket and glared at the upturned cards in front of Logan. “How do you always fucking win? I swear to god you were bluffing. You have a tell and everything!”
Marie chuckled and walked closer, settling into the spot Kitty and Logan created between them.
“Liar, Liar. Better watch your pants. You know I don’t have a tell. No one, not even that stinking Cajun you call a boyfriend, who briefly made a living off of Texas Hold ‘Em, can tell when I’m bluffing. You owe me,” he looked up at the sky, adding in his head, “one million dollars”.
Rogue chocked on her laugh and sat back, startled for a minute but Jubes just pulled an ugly face and Kitty fell over, laughing. “That’s what you get, Jubes. You called him on what?” she flipped the hand over and started laughing harder “a pair of 5’s? I think the only part of Remy that’s rubbed off on you is his cologne”.
Logan frowned and pointed at Kitty. “I don’t want to hear that. Ever. Jubes, pay up. Either one million dollars or you do my laundry for three weeks.”
“So what am I up to now?”
Kitty pulled a notebook out of her pocket. “Four months.”
Jubes grabbed the notebook out of her hands. “You wrote it down?! What kind of best friend are you? Don’t help him!”
Kitty grabbed it back and stuck her tongue out, turning to Rogue and smiling. “Want to play? You can’t be any worse than Jubilee”
“No you don’t Rogue! He’ll just make you do all his chores because you won’t win.”
Marie looked at the three others. Jubilee’s face was screaming “don’t try it” while her head shook back and forth. Kitty was smiling faintly and wiggling her eyebrows, trying to entire another playing into the game. Logan was just looking on, amused, while shuffling the cards. She thought about it for a minute, did some mental checking and shrugged. “Sure, deal me in.”
She flushed and made herself not flinch when he leaned close to her, speaking softly. “I’ll take it easy on you for awhile. Just until you figure out what you’re doing.” He sat up, looking a bit too smug for her.
She pulled her eyebrow up, an exact copy of his favorite expression. “Will you, now? Well, I warn you, I had an excellent teacher. Maybe you shouldn’t assume I’m going to lose.” She smiled and saw a smear on his face. “What’s that?”
He wrinkled his nose. “Vicks-Vapor rub. It’s so I can’t smell when people are bluffing. Remy thought it would help him win, said the only way I could know he was bluffing was by smelling out the lie. Even since, I’ve done this. He still loses but it’s a legit worry. Can’t smell anything else with this shit on my face.”
While they’d been talking, Kitty had divided the chips up equally between everyone and Jubilee was busy making multi-colored towers. Marie looked at the chips in front of her and watched Logan deal the cards.
She turned a part of her brain to the inside and walked down the hallway, opening the appropriate door and watching the occupant step out. He just smirked at her and laughed softly before going with her to the front of their now shared space. He looked out through her eyes at the cards in front of them and rubbed his hands together. “Raise before the flop, darlin’. Gotta come out strong.”
Logan sat in disbelief, looking at the chips in the pot and at the stack Rogue had in front of her. Jubes and Kitty had been out for over 45 minutes, leaving the battle to the masters. He had to admit, whoever’d taught Rogue to play poker was pretty damn good. He looked at his cards, not that he didn’t know what they were, it was just a habit, before looking at her again. The sun was long gone by this point but Jubes had gone after a camping lantern so he could see her perfectly across the blanket. He studied her face one last time and saw the corner of her lip twitch as she rubbed one of her cards with her first finger. There was the tell.
“All in”, he grunted, barely getting the words out before her “call” was thrown into the night. She started smiling and he watched it form before shaking his head. Kinda cocky, ain’t you darlin’?
He laid his cards down, face up. Two kings in his hand to match the King on the board and the pair of threes. Full house.
“Whadda you think?” He watched her purse her lips and he started reaching for the chips, figuring he would have the rest of her chips in the next hand or two.
“Wait.” Her soft voice stopped him. “Though those kings are awfully pretty, I think my aces, which match that pretty little river card, beat you.” She let that sink in for a minute. “I win.” She looked up and beamed, stopping his hands and a breath for a minute. She was radiant when she smiled that big.
His rampant thoughts were halted by Jubilee poking him in the side and laughing like a hyena. “You should see your face, Wolvie. All shock and awe that a little Mississippi girl beat you.”
He cleared his throat and looked around, in a completely new situation. “Ok. So, I lose. I owe you two million dollars. What’s it gonna be, kid?”
He watched Rogue lean over and converse with Kitty, probably trying to figure out how their ‘money’ translated to real life tasks. Please not laundry. Please not laundry, his brain chanted. He couldn’t stand laundry. He wiped the vapor-rub off his face onto his sleeve, glad to finally have his fifth sense restored.
She sat upright again and looked solemn as she delivered his sentence. “Take us for ice cream, tonight. That covers the first million. As for the second…” She stalled out, eyebrows drawn together “Kitty, we need something else.”
“Hell no! Logan, for the second million, you’re taking us out next week on Wednesday night because it’s Rogue’s twenty-first birthday and she wants a drink in a real bar but she’s afraid that something will happen. But we’ll make sure nothing happens, right?”
Jubilee, always ready to help out with conspiracies, picked up the cue. “Totally. And Logan has to pay because he lost. You beat him, Rogue! That’s so totally awesome I can’t even find something awesome enough to compare it to.”
Rogue looked down, blushing and he felt a strange twist in his chest. Why hadn’t she asked earlier if that was what she wanted? Didn’t she know that he would have made it happen, even without her ‘winning’ the privilege? Ok. Next thing on the list of ‘Marie Related Items’ make sure she knows to ask for what she needs. He wasn’t a damn mind reader. Why did women always think men were?
He started gathering up the chips and cards, putting them back in their box as the girls got to their feet, groaning and stretching. “So, Rogue. Since I’m about to take you all out for ice cream, want to tell me who taught you to play poker? Cause I kinda want a chance to play against them someday.”
He watched the rebirth of her smile and decided that losing didn’t hurt that much. As long as it wasn’t Remy he was losing to, he could cope. “You already played against him, Logan. You were my teacher!” The three of them started laughing and ran over the rooftop, out of sight in a minute.
“Well, damn,” he said to the empty space, grabbing everything and tearing off after them. “You’re a little cheater, Rogue. I told you Jubilee! No one can beat me. It doesn’t count if I beat myself!”
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Hello all! This lovely early morning update brought to you by an inability to sleep and the awesomeness of my reviewers who constantly push me to write faster because I love them so.
Thanks for reading! Kiss Kiss!
Thanks for reading! Kiss Kiss!
Chapter End Notes:
Sorry if the poker terms went over anyone's head. The river card is the last of the community cards that are turned up on Texas Hold 'Em. And a full house is normally a good hand to go all in on, especially if you have kings. Poor Logan didn't know what he was getting himself into.
Anyway, no quotes in this one, expect for The LIttle Mermaid.
Review me? Please?! With Logans on top?
Anyway, no quotes in this one, expect for The LIttle Mermaid.
Review me? Please?! With Logans on top?