After the Alcatraz Island battle against the Brotherhood, Marie graduated from Xavier’s school even though she no longer had a mutation anymore. Ororo thought it was only fair to let her graduate with the rest of her class even though she had taken the cure. The day after graduation, she had talked Marie into helping to teach the incoming students in September. The school was still greatly understaffed and the battle hadn’t made recruiting teachers any easier. Plus all the graduates would have to move out of the school to make room for the overflow of new incoming students. The school had an upswing in calls for admission after Alcatraz Island. Marie generally seemed happy to help, since Xavier was so generous to take her in, and help save her from his former close friend now arch enemy. She felt she should give back some of her time to the school to help other mutants find opportunities to learn about the world they had to share with people that may or may not accept them.
Marie didn’t make college plans because, though she had taken the cure, she was still afraid of what could happen in a classroom were the cure to fail and the possibility of accidental contact with her skin. Jubilee talked her into taking online classes like she and the other graduates were. She breathed easier because she could have the best of everything; she could take the classes, help out Ororo by becoming a teacher, move out of the school into an apartment with Jubes and Kitty. She wasn’t sure if there would still be a place for her on the X-Men team because even though she was no longer a mutant. Marie told Ororo about Scott teaching her how to pilot the X-Jet while he tried to deal with the loss of Jean. It was hard but, she tried to cheer him up while he tried to teach her the basics.
Ororo approved Marie’s plans wholeheartedly and was glad all the graduates agreed to move out. Since Alcatraz, she had to make room for an influx of new mutant rescues and students. Over the summer, some of the old staff rooms were being turned into rooms for some of the younger mutants, where bunk beds could easily double the room capacity to 4 instead of 2 per room. Professor Munroe didn’t care that the former students she had asked to teach had no degrees in education or enough qualifying credentials. She knew they would do their best to make sure the subjects that they were taught would be passed on to the new students. Dr. Moira Kinross MacTaggert stepped in to become the co-doctor team at the school with Dr. Hank McCoy. The person she needed was Logan for security and defense… But Ororo couldn’t reach him at all. When Logan wanted to disappear, he could do it well. No one had heard from him since the Alcatraz Island.
Months later… It was the last Friday in August and Rogue finished up writing up her curriculums for her art, history, and meditation classes for Professor Munroe. Her face still hurt very badly; at least it didn’t sting anymore. Dr. Moira had carefully patched up her wounds, gave her a sticker, and a lollypop for being brave like she did when the younger ones came in for their check-ups and shots. She told her she was lucky that there were no facial fractures. She also ran some tests for her and proved Marie’s hypothesis. The cure had failed. She formed the theory when suddenly she felt like a burning sensation like a hot flash all over her body that her mutation was back. Marie began telling everyone to call her Rogue, she started wearing gloves again, middle of August. Everyone knew what that meant and her close friends were sorry it that it hadn’t worked for her. The emotions overwhelmed her and she had to escape for a while. Ororo understood but told her not to take too long with the school gearing up for the upcoming student packed semester.
Almost as sudden as the cure’s failure, she began to hear the many voices of those she’d absorbed again. She was so very distracted that she couldn’t concentrate during her morning meditations and it slowly drove her crazy. Her inner Logan told her to run, so Rogue went on a trip to free her mind and spirit for a while, to get the voices and mutations under control before going back to concentrate on teaching. Especially so since she would be teaching meditation to the students every day. How could she prove that the techniques she was teaching actually worked if she was so out of control?
When Rogue came back from her trip she had dark sunglasses on and she looked a bit shaken up. She wouldn’t allow them to touch her covered body or hug her. Everyone asked why and what happened to her face; she just said she had an accident. Then they would ask for more details and she’d made up something as stupid as it sounded; she’d gotten in a bar fight… But Jubilee knew better; Rogue in a bar fight? Nah… Maybe Logan would but not Rogue, no way… Rogue wasn’t that stupid. Jubilee just couldn’t leave her friend alone about it. The make-up she used every day didn’t cover the bruising well enough, and once Doc Moira took care of the wounds with bandages, you could tell she’d been hit badly. She and Kitty volunteered to do Rogue’s make-up with gloves and gentle application. Jubilee spotted Rogue in her room on the way down the hall through her open door in the apartment they shared. Text books all around her, on her lap, on the floor, and all over the bed.
“What’s new, chica?”
“Ahm finishin’ up the curriculum Ororo wanted before we start teachin’ next week.”
“How about you, me, and Kit-Kat go out for some fun tonight?”
“Lahk what?
“Karaoke night at The Shattered Club.”
“Ah don’t sing. And what’s with the name… Geez, so laame.”
“Well Kitty and I are going. I’m taking Peter and Bobby’s going with Kitty. You can come too.”
“Na, Jubes. Ah’ll be a fifth wheel. Ah don’t really feel like partyin’ tonaht. ah’m safe heah. He doesn’t know ah’m not livin’ at the school anymore.”
“Come on Roguey, we’ll protect you if he shows up,” Jubilee started to whine.
“The police ah supposed ta call meh the minute he makes bail.”
“There will be four of us there. If we have to we’ll recruit more help. Bobby can freeze him solid if he has to.”
“Ah know. Ah’m just scared but, ah’m not, ya know? On tha outsahd, ah have a plan. On tha insahd ah’m shakin’ lahk a leaf. What if he wants ta kill me Jubes? Ah mean really stab meh through fer good this tahm. Ah don’t wanna have ta drain him inta meh ta save mahself. Ah don’t want alla his nahtmares, bad habits, and naughty behavya.”
“Okay, how about this. Do what you would do if you were home in the south. What would a southern chica do?”
Jubilee saw the wheels turning in Rogue’s mind on her face and then the light bulb moment when she’d come to a decision. She wasn’t sure she was going to like it.
“Ya know, ya may be on ta somethin’ there… Ah’m gonna go huntin’ then…”
Rogue remembered Professor Xavier had a cabin in upstate New York, not quite too far from the school, out in the woods. She would go there and hide out if he came after her; it could possibly keep her friends safe from his wrath if he was coming after her. If things got bad, there was no one around for 20 miles in any direction, and she knew how to take care of business.
“Hunting? You’re scarin’ me Roguey… Why would you wanna go hunting now? Please say you’ll come with us, chica…”
“Alraht, ah’ll go but, ah have a favor ah need. If he comes heah, don’t even talk ta him if ya don’t wanna but, tell him ah’m up at Professah Xavier’s cabin. Give him this address, ah don’t care if ya have ta slip it under his bedroom door but, make sure he gits it without makin’ him mad. And tell Kitty not ta make him mad either.”
“Okay, we leave in an hour. They’ll be here at 8.”
“Fahn, ah’ll git changed. Ah’m takin’ mah car too,” it was better that way if she needed to run.
“Righty-oh, see ya there.”
Time flew by and the posse showed up, Bobby, Peter, and Kitty pulled into the driveway of the apartment. Kitty honked to let both the ladies know they had arrived. As Rogue put her seatbelt on, she remembered the day she told Logan to do the same… She followed Kitty’s Ford Flex that Jubilee was driving. She had a bad feeling about how the day was going to end… But hey, at least she wouldn’t have to worry about getting beat up by the man she once loved, ever again. Nightmares plagued her almost every night after her injuries. The scenes so vivid and real like she was getting beaten all over again, seeing that fiery look of anger in his eyes, the scared woman he was with backing away from the scene. Rogue didn’t think he’d do what he did to her; it was naïve of her to think he wouldn’t do what he did. Her face, a month later now at the last Friday of September, her bruises were still changing color from fading dark red to her natural skin color.
The group headed out of town as they drove on County Road 233 to The Shattered Club. A little hole in the wall bar that had karaoke night twice a week and of course the alcohol was flowing… No customers under 18 but, they still carded the younger folks when they tried to order alcohol, and did have a menu of non-alcoholic drinks for those that couldn’t touch it. They had tasty menu options according to Peter, who liked to order just about one of everything on the menu when he came to the Club. Of course he shared what he ordered to keep all the females of the group from picking off his plate. Bobby usually ordered his own anyway. During the week, the place was mainly filled with bikers, Japanese business men, tourists, loners, and lots of people with broken hearts… On the weekends, the bar filled up with college students, professors, and other professionals.
Rogue parked next to Kitty’s car and got out of her four wheel drive Jeep Wrangler, white rock crunching under her booted feet in the parking lot. She was concerned with the way Logan drove, that she would only have two miles to run once he made bail, and until he made bail; she’d have to run. The cabin was at least 20 miles or more from the bar. She had made a deal with the woman there that night, to call Marie on her cell, as soon as he made bail. The woman wasn’t too happy about it but, agreed. That important call hadn’t come to her yet and she was getting more anxious. Rogue knew if Logan found her, they would be headed straight for hell. She promised herself she’d never let him get close enough to touch her again. Her eyes twitched at the pain her memory triggered at the painful memories of that night. She heard a voice inside her remind her… He swore to protect me… And he ran off. He swore to protect me… But who was the real enemy to protect her against now? They had once been decent friends… And now, there was no more friendship between them.
She really, really didn’t want to be at the karaoke bar, went against her better judgment to be there but, she was there for Jubilee, and yeah for Kitty too. Rogue made peace with her but she still hated Bobby to some degree for cheating on her. She thanked God every morning that she hadn’t been stupid enough to sleep with him too. She tried to be civil to Bobby after their break up before Alcatraz Island, in the Danger Room pre X-Men training courses because he was a teammate but, Storm never paired them together again. It was too dangerous for the whole team. Outside the club, before they were about to enter the establishment, Rogue held a little meeting.
“Ya’ll know, ah’m not sure ah’m safe heah. If he comes here, ah’m goin’ ta tha Professah’s cabin. It was lahk a second home ta meh when ah was goin’ a lil’ mad because mah mutation came back. Ah’ll let ya’ll know when he’s heah, and give ya’ll tha cue, so ah can sneak out the back, got it? Ah need all ya’ll’s help with a diversion.”
“Sure chica, we can distract him. Need any other help? I can zap him if you want.”
“No, no. When it’s tahm fer meh ta git ah’ll just whispah, BS, ta who’s next ta meh. Ah’ll call Jubes when it’s over.”
“When what’s over Rogue?” Kitty asked.
“Never ya mahnd, ah’ll be fahn. If ah ain’t and ya’ll don’t heah from meh in a week, instructions are in mah safe under mah bed, on what ta do fer meh…”
Rogue couldn’t tell them her plans because if she was arrested; she didn’t want to make them accessories to the crime if one was committed. It was all about plausible deniability. The plans contained in the safe weren’t about running or having Logan go to jail for murder, they were plans for her funeral service. They had been difficult to write out but, she had done it to give them peace of mind in the event of her death someday.
“Okay, let’s just hope it don’t come to that,” Bobby said, sounding more and more like Scott every day, “We don’t need to be gutted for helping you either.”
“Ya’re such an ass, Bobby,” Rogue said.
Kitty slapped him upside the back of his head for emphasis and winked at Rogue.
“Ouch.”
“Thanks, sugah. Ah couldn’t reach him.”
“Serves you right, Rogue needs our help, I’ll stay with the boys, Kitty. You take her out through the wall of the little ladies’ room in the back,” Jubilee said.
Peter stood around listening to the plans with one ear, watching the road for the man in question, while the other ear listened in on the plan.
“Will do, now to create the diversion, I will count and when I say three, we’ll all get up. Peter will stand, come around to stand behind Rogue to block which direction we go. Bobby you, sort of stand close to Peter. Jubes you go stand on Peter’s other side. Then Rogue and I will sneak into the ladies’ room and I’ll help her out through the wall. I’ll be in there for ten minutes. Then Jubes you come in, we’ll be together another three minutes before you come back out, and then a couple minutes later, I’ll come back. He’ll wonder where Rogue went.”
“Sounds lahk a plan, thanks guys, ya’ll don’t know how much ah appreciate this.”
“Just don’t let him hurt you again, chica. You deserve better. You know we’re there if you need us.”
“Thanks, Jubes. Thanks ya’ll. Now, let’s try ta unwind…”
They entered The Shattered Club and Peter spotted a table about fifteen feet near the ladies’ room. Jubilee was first up to the mike. She had picked out her song while they had been listening to the radio on the way to the karaoke bar. She was up on stage for her big strong tough guy, Peter. He’s trying not to blush in the darkness of the audience. She sang Rhianna’s, Umbrella. She received a high five from all the girls, up next was Kitty. She got up there all nervous about being up in front of the crowd of strangers and her friends but, she didn’t let it show too much. She sang Bob Seger’s, Horizontal Bop, complete with dance moves. Rogue’s advanced hearing told her Bobby groaned in embarrassment. She felt more like that fifth wheel like she said she would. Jubes asked her to come along and she really tried to relax but, as she drank her second beer with the others, she got more nervous. She sat at their table fingering her bottle, peeled the label off, while she watched other poor off-key souls get up and try to sing their songs. Rogue looked at the clock on the wall over the stage and then she checked her cell phone. No missed calls and she had a sudden feeling that he was out…
Logan took a few tired breaths as he waited for them to empty the manila envelope on the counter that contained his things they had collected from him. His pair of dog tags that Rogue had given to him when he came back to the school and Stryker attacked; the other pair he left with Stryker under the new Alkali Lake. His watch and his new wallet were the next items to be checked off. He bought it for himself on the road the Christmas after Jean had sacrificed herself at Alkali Lake. His reason behind the purchase was because he thought a wallet on a chain seemed to look fashionably cool, and no one would dare take the wallet on the chain out of his pocket. The last item was an X-Phone. Charles wanted him to have it in case he needed help but, now there wasn’t really anyone left to call for help. He considered leaving it behind but, took it anyway.
Before the manila envelope was opened for him to reclaim his things, Logan had tried to find out what he was in for. The law behind the counter said that he had been arrested for assault and battery initially. Some woman at a bar in Laughlin City had called because she had witnessed the crime and reluctantly helped the injured party to safety. Then once the injured party was looked at, the woman decided to press charges but, the injured party declined, and talked the other woman into not pressing hers and that was all the clerk knew. Logan didn’t understand. He hadn’t remembered beating anyone up. He remembered meeting… There must have been someone else there that night. Had the animal gotten loose and hurt someone? Had it been an angry boyfriend, husband, or lover that he hit? Wait, the woman saw him hurting someone… She might be able to fill in his blanks. He he’d been cage fighting but he couldn’t remember a sign of some idiot trying to get his money back. He remembered he had just wanted a beer, a fight or two, something to eat, and a quick fuck before he went to sleep in his truck in the parking lot.
It took a while for him to get approval to leave being that he had the blades in his arms and they kept setting off security alarms. Logan now had an understanding with the law in Northern Alberta, they didn’t piss him off, and he let them live. What he hadn’t known was that before he had been arrested, Rogue had told them some of his story, leaving out many details, and asked for them to go easy on him after she asked the woman not to press charges. The woman that called really couldn’t press them, she wasn’t the injured party. Sure, the woman could have filed a sexual assault charge but, Rogue knew that it was consensual and would testify that if she had to. All she wanted was for him to spend the night in jail and get over the alcohol he’d consumed that night. Truth be known, neither one knew just how much alcohol he had consumed that night.
Logan couldn’t wait to get out and be free. He had decided to take a few more months to get over Jean and decide which way he wanted to go now that he wasn’t tied down anywhere. There wasn’t a real enough reason to be tied down at the school according to his brain but, his heart ached to see Marie again. He believed she had taken the cure and was now living her life but, he needed to know that she was all right. In the parking lot of the bar in Beaver Falls, Alberta, on his last night in town, he had a fateful decision to make. Go right and go into more Canadian wilderness, bars, women, and loneliness or… Go back, step into Scooter’s shoes, lead the X-Men, and help Ororo run the school. Nah… In one of the worst mistakes he could have ever made, he decided to spend a bit more time out on the road and ended up in Laughlin City again… As he waited for them to reset the last alarm, he remembered going to the bar he met Rogue at and found a woman, pretty, perky, late twenties, a red head named… Named… Named Fire something. Firebug, Firelight, Fire... Firecracker. That was it.
She said her parents named her that because of the way she was born or some shit like that. And then his memory from that meeting was blank until he was in jail on a cot with his hands in cuffs in an X shape on his chest. Logan finally made it out the front doors of the jail. Okay, so how was he making it out of jail? He hadn’t remembered if he had called someone to help him make bail. Earlier that afternoon, someone came to tell him the charges had been dropped after five days. They kept him for a whole five damn days! Because of a confidentiality clause, they wouldn’t give him the name of the injured party and as he stood there in the bright sunlight of day, he tried to form a task to do list… 1. Find out what the hell happened that night, finding Firecracker in Laughlin City, 2. Finding out who he supposedly had assaulted and battered to find out if he needed to finish the job… He was not a man to apologize, and 3. Finally getting his butt to the school before anything else happened. Logan checked his wallet and he had just enough money to get his truck out of impound, for something to eat, something cold and Canadian. He opened the truck and it still had that home on the road smell.
He relaxed into the seat behind the wheel and put his belt on. Instantly, when he heard the click, he recalled Rogue’s voice telling him he needed his seat belt on, of course he didn’t have time to refuse and then his old camper truck crashed into the tree and he went flying out the windshield. He wondered how Marie was doing at the school. Logan had missed graduation day by his own fault. Ororo couldn’t reach him for Marie, he ignored the calls. She wanted it to be a surprise for her if he could show up… It didn’t pan out and Marie seemed happy, sad on the other side of the coin during the ceremony. Ororo didn’t have to tell her, Marie could tell by her expression. He wondered if she was still with that Ice Prick. Was he finding ways around her mutation? He wondered, what if she hadn’t taken the cure…?
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
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Story Notes:
This story was inspired by Miranda Lambert, myself, and the wonderful, tamisnead, and a bunny she wanted to find a good home for. I took her in and set her up by the pool, with a lounge chair under a patio shade, and a carrot juice smoothie with a little blue umbrella in the glass. She looks so cute in the carrot print bikini I made for her.
Anyway, this is a story about how Logan rebuilds trust and a relationship with Rogue. Both of them working through the pain of the abuse and building a relationship.
This is an adult story.
I hope you like it!
Anyway, this is a story about how Logan rebuilds trust and a relationship with Rogue. Both of them working through the pain of the abuse and building a relationship.
This is an adult story.
I hope you like it!
Author's Chapter Notes:
In this chapter we see what the animal can do when he doesn't get his way.
Chapter End Notes:
I hope you liked this and please let me know so that I can write more.
Thanks!
Thanks!