It had been some time since they had any new recruits. Even longer since Wolverine had been expected to train any of them. Nowadays they came to the X-Men with a few fights under their belts.
He glanced into the med bay where Hank was taking the kid's vitals, then back to Scott. The younger man was pinching the bridge of his nose. Clearly he didn't want to have this conversation.
"Look, Wolverine, I don't know how long it will take, but I'm placing her under your care. You don't have to do anything with her, besides keep her safe for a while until we straighten it out." Scott had aged the last few years trying to keep this operation going, scrambling to hold on to Xavier's dream.
The school was pretty much a thing of the past. The struggle now was to help the mutant population survive. The world had gone to hell in a hand basket. The government no longer cared who you were as long as you stayed out of their business. That left groups like the X-Men to pick up the slack of stopping those who were abusing mutants.
"Alright, where is she supposed to room?" It would put a crimp into his routine, but he could handle the change.
Scott looked embarrassed for a moment. "We're full up." He made a move to put a hand on Wolverine's shoulder, then stopped. "Anyway, I'm sure you'll make do."
Wolverine was the last hold out for a one-person room. The lower levels had long ago been converted to living quarters when the mansion was damaged beyond repair. He'd cleaned out the original janitor's closet, turned storage room, into his space. It didn't offer much, but there was space for a bed and a small sofa. Best of all it was down past the storage rooms, away from everyone else.
He growled at Scott, who only smirked and walked away. It felt like a set up, but until Wolverine could determine the real reason he'd have to play along.
"Grab your stuff." The girl looked up in surprise and Hank gave her a reassuring smile.
Wolverine didn't wait for her. Her first lesson in dealing with him. Scott had said he only had to keep an eye on her, but that wasn't his way. She would learn to earn her keep around here, one way or another. And if she couldn't fight, he'd teach her.
He stopped outside one of the storage rooms. Just as he suspected, she'd arrived with nothing.
Rogue gave the tall man with the wild hair a tentative smile. He was definitely the most intimidating of them all, these X-Men. Not even the blue, furry Hank with is prominent canines inspired this kind of menace.
The man with the red glasses had explained that she would be under Wolverine's care for a while. Hank had assured her that Wolverine was an honorable man and not to let his glare scare her.
She had studied Wolverine from behind on the way over. He was a very muscular man and she was sure his demeanor alone struck fear into the heart of many. However the fact that Hank and the other man had no concerns about leaving a teenage girl in his care spoke volumes of a different kind.
Wolverine cocked his head at an angle. Frowning, he asked, "When was the last time you ate?"
"You heard that?" Rogue stared at him in amazement. Her stomach had barely rumbled, it tended not to complain too much since it had learned that food was scarce. "Is that your mutation? That is so cool. What else can you hear?"
God help him, if this one was a talker like Jubilee he was in trouble. One Jubilation Lee was enough for any underground facility. "I have enhanced senses and you don't want to know what else I can hear."
"Okay." On second thought being able to hear stomachs growl meant you could hear other bodily noises that might not be so interesting.
He raised an eyebrow at her. She wanted to smile at how sexy that made him look, but tamped it down, realizing it was meant as a prompt. A sexy prompt, she mused, but still something that required an answer. "Oh, I had something this morning."
"Real food or something not too moldy out of a trashcan?"
Turning red, her eyes slid away from him. "I can't tell you the last time I saw real food."
Against his better judgment, Wolverine placed a finger under her chin and lifted her face until she looked him in the eye. "Don't ever be embarrassed by what you have to do to survive. Life ain't easy."
She felt tears well up and pushed the feeling down. Nodding, she gave him an understanding smile. He realized he'd held her chin a moment too long, when her pupils dilated and her breath hitched. Damn, she was beautiful, but was too young. Rogue had been placed in his care and he was off to a bad start.
He looked at her full lips and the way they trembled slightly as she watched him. The overwhelming urge to slide his thumb across her bottom lip hit him hard and he had to look away. Straightening back up, he made sure his schooled face of neutrality was in place. "Let's see if we can find you some clothes."
He piled her high with clothes from the crates of surplus military clothing he'd picked up last year. Grabbing a couple of army blankets, he took her to his room. Besides not eating, she hadn't bathed recently. She could rectify that while he rustled up some grub for her.
"Wow." She took in the entirety of the small room. Wolverine was obviously a neat, organized man; she didn't think she could live up to that.
"If you'd prefer…" He pointed to the door, indicating the hallway was available.
"No, no. It looks great." There was a nice big bed, but Rogue guessed that the couch was where she would be sleeping and deposited her newly acquired possessions there.
It was the best feeling ever to be clean again, even if the only privacy she got undressing and dressing was Wolverine's back.
"Oh my, what is that you're cooking?" She peeked around him to look in the old electrical skillet.
"Spam." He knew a lot of people that still turned their noses up at this particular food but she was almost drooling. He doubted that would be a problem.
"I don't care what it is, it smells good." She barely let it cool off enough to eat before she had a whole piece shoved in her mouth. The second piece she savored a little more and though she was eyeing a third slab he could tell she was worried there would be no food later. He grabbed a can of peaches from above the sink and opened it for her.
"You can eat them all now, but it might be best to pace yourself so you don't get sick." She smiled up at him, her lips glistening with peach juice and he felt like a lecherous old man. "How old are you?" Not that knowing how young she was would make him feel better.
"Twenty-one," she answered between bites. He quirked an eyebrow at her. She was beginning to understand that the eyebrow meant a real answer was expected. "Nineteen later this year," she said with a sigh.
Well, maybe it did ease his mind to know she wasn't as young as she looked.
Rogue thought about asking his age to keep the conversation flowing, however she didn't really care how old she was. Heck, she didn't care about how old she was, she only told people she was twenty-one because it seemed to put them at ease.
"So heightened senses, anything else?"
"Heal faster and have these." He released his claws. If they were going to be sharing a small space it was best she know. To her credit, she didn't freak out or show fear when the blades came out. Though the overt curiosity she was showing made Wolverine a little uncomfortable and he retracted them.
"I can see why you need the healing." There were other questions she wanted to ask but thought better of it. Those questions would hold until they knew each other longer. "All I got was life sucking skin."
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Story Notes:
Thanks as always to RogueLotus who I couldn't do this without