The first thing she became aware of was the blipping sound from the monitor keeping in time with her heartbeat.

What the hell happened?

“Hey, kid.”

She turned to the man sitting in the chair beside her, his amber eyes warm with concern. He was caressing her hair, both of his hands gloved. She gave him a small smile.

“Hey back.”

Logan took hold of Rogue’s bare hand and pressed it against his chest. He was relieved to see her awake. Seeing her lie there, helpless, brought out powerful emotions in him, emotions that he had forgotten. Every part of him felt made to protect her, care for her, like she was his.

Fascinated by the flickering in his eyes, she asked, “How long have Ah been out of it?”

Still stroking her hair, he informed her, “About eighteen hours. Apparently yer exhausted.” She rolled her eyes and resisted the impulse to sit up, enjoying the feel of her hand on his chest and his hand in her hair.

“That’s a pretty shitty reason to faint like a pansy.”

Logan smirked. “Yeah, it was pretty girly." He laughed softly at the look of mild outrage she shot him, but then became serious. “Why are you so tired, Marie?”

Her heart skipped a beat. Should she tell him that the noises that kept her up at night for the past two months paled in comparison to the sexual fantasies of the past week that made her so hot that she spent most of her nights in a cool bath?

That would be, a no.

“Ah guess completing my college correspondence courses took a bigger toll on me than Ah thought,” she answered him, averting her eyes to focus on the door that led into the sick bay. Logan opened his mouth to argue with her, aware that she was telling only part of the truth, when Dr. Henry McCoy entered the room.

“Good morning Rogue."

He greeted her warmly, snapping open his clipboard and quickly writing down information that the monitors were exhibiting. Nodding his head in obvious satisfaction, he went about disconnecting the various machines, and with an apology, took out the IV that was inserted into her vein. Logan shot Marie a look and she shook her head imperciptively. She kept the tiny gauze in place to prevent the doctor from seeing the wound instantly close itself, thanking him when he placed a small bandage over it. It was clear to Logan that she didn’t want her feral state known to their fellow X-Man.

“I trust you slept well, my dear? Is there anything you would like to discuss in regards to your sleeping habits?” Beast pulled up a chair and sat on the other side of her, giving her his full attention.

She reluctantly pulled away from Logan, glad to see that she was wearing a full sleeved t-shirt and pants, standard poison skin garb. She accepted the cotton gloves that Beast handed her gratefully, feeling more comfortable after putting them on. “Just burning too much of the midnight oil Doc, nothing that the holidays can’t fix now that Ah’m done with my studies.”

Patting her covered hand, Hank stood up. “Good to hear. Frankly Rogue, I must say, you are in impeccable health. Outside of this episode, your physical well being is exemplary and your blood work came back with absolutely stellar results. It seems that access to Carol Danvers’ mutation agrees with you.”

Rogue ignored Logan’s raised eyebrow pointedly and smiled tightly. “Guess so. Am Ah free to go?”

Already distracted by his notes, Beast waved her off. “Of course. Get something to eat,” he suggested. “You can afford to put some meat on you.”

She jumped off the bed and Logan rose from his chair to stand with her. He followed her out and joined her in the elevator and was quiet as the lift brought them to the main floor. When the doors swished open, she attempted to send him off with a cheery, “See you later,” but he grabbed her hand, stopping her from taking the main staircase to her room.

“Yer eating, kid."

He pulled her along the wood paneled hallway and into the loud cafeteria that was already swarming with the few students eating breakfast who remained at the school for the holidays. He looked at her sympathetically as the sounds and smells came at her. Squeezing her hand reassuringly, he led her to the farthest table he could find. “I’ll be right back,” he told her.

She watched his retreating back, confused thoughts swirling in her mind. He was being very attentive, opposite of how he’s mostly treated her since coming back. Part of her was relieved, but another, stronger part of her rebelled against it. This Jekyll and Hyde act he was pulling on her was nerve-wracking, and the way he expected her to roll over and accept his alarming mood swings set her temper flaring. When he returned, carrying way too much food on two trays, she decided to let it go. For now. There were worse things than having the Wolverine cater to you.

“Eat,” he instructed.

She shook her head at the amount of food he placed in front of her. Suddenly, she was absolutely ravenous. And once she began to eat, she found she couldn’t stop, eating absolutely everything on the tray. Embarrassed, especially because of the way he had stared at her the entire time, she exclaimed, “Ah’m going to pay for that.” She began to delicately pat her mouth with a paper napkin, but set it down, feeling ridiculous. After that gluttonous display, her southern manners were definitely thrown out the window.

Logan snorted, mopping up some remaining egg yolk off his plate with a torn husk of cornbread. “Actually, you won’t. Rule number one. The more your healing factor kicks in, the more food you need. Don’t hold back on eating what ya want, your body knows how much it needs to sustain itself. Based on what I just saw go down yer throat, you’ve been holding back. Don’t. ”

Startled, she sat back against her chair.

“Rule number two. The way to get to sleep without all the distractions, is to focus on the rhythm and sound of yer own heartbeat.” He looked directly into her eyes.

She felt a blush creep onto her face.

Pushing his empty plate away from him, he kept eyes trained on her. “You need to be upfront with me, Marie.”

Her stomach flip flopped. She attempted to be nonchalant, exaggerating her southern drawl, when she replied, “A lady needs some secrets, sugah.”

A strange look came over his face. She looked away, unnerved by his direct gaze.

“Good to see you up and about Rogue.” They both looked up to see Ororo and Kurt approaching them with their own breakfast trays. Scooting over to make room for the blue furred teleporter, Rogue flashed him a smile. “Thanks Kurt.”

He bared his brilliant white teeth at her, yellow eyes flashing with mischief. “It appears your present company has you glowing in good health as vell,” he remarked, noting her flushed cheeks. Her cheeks burned further.

Taking pity on the young woman, and shooting Nightcrawler a warning look, Storm told her, “You look rested Rogue." The older woman reached out and squeezed her hand, and Rogue returned the gesture affectionately.

The four friends settled in, the conversation turning to matters pertaining to the school, the rumored Mutant Registration Bill and the night’s planned festivities for Christmas Eve. Kurt reminded everyone to join him for midnight mass before they all went their separate ways.

A red-eyed mutant watched the group from the other side of the cafeteria with a scowl on his face. Logan saw him. And he liked the expression on Gambit’s face just fine.
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