It was early evening by the time the medical check and familial introductions were complete. Logan led everyone up to the kitchen directly for dinner, rather than the cafeteria; Ava had had a big enough day already without trying to deal with more introductions and noise. Caleb entertained James and Ava, while Logan and Rogue cooked up a sizable meal for the group.
"How about Mac and Cheese, everyone likes that right?" Rogue asked, as she began to hunt through the cupboards for something to fill the kids hungry little tummies.
"Wha's maccysheese?" James asked, staring at her blankly. Caleb couldn't help his laugh at the open-mouthed shocked look Ava shot at her little brother.
"You'll like it, buddy," Logan replied, grimacing at the idea a four-year-old didn't know what macaroni cheese was, what kind of kid didn't even know what it was.
Rogue was almost tripped over by James a short while later, when he suddenly ran to her and hugged onto her legs without warning, as Sarah walked into the room looking for Caleb. Keeping an eye on James, Rogue noted that he kept a close and wary eye on the other woman until she left, before he finally released her and wandered back to where Caleb was sitting. She made a note to mention it to Logan later as she finished plating their food.
Partway through their meal the Professor entered into the room, James was still fascinated by the wheeled chair he rode in, though that fascination was currently warring with his hungry belly to keep his attention.
"Logan, I'm glad to see the mission went well," he smiled at Ava as she hungrily shovelled food into her mouth. "In light of your new situation I felt it would be best to upgrade your accommodations, we can't really have the three of you sharing one room, and I'm certain suggesting any one of your children move to a dormitory is out of the question." He grinned at Logan's sarcastically raised brow before continuing, "There is a three-bedroom suite in the attic level above the staff quarters, quite large but for your family that I imagine would be preferable, especially given it doesn't have direct access to the outdoors. If you would like it, it will be available for you to move into tomorrow," Xavier offered.
"Thanks, that would be great," Logan confirmed relieved, though he wasn't sure how he was going to get the kids into their own rooms, so far James hadn't even managed to go a whole night in his own bed.
The more immediate problem presented itself not long after. Poor Ava was starving, he knew from experience that lab food was garbage, when they remembered to feed you, but the poor girl was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open once the edge had been taken off her empty stomach. James wasn't much better, still recovering from his sleepless nights while he and Rogue had been away and his impromptu waking that morning. He gathered up a bag full of snacks and announced it was time for the kids to go to bed, he was moderately surprised when neither of them complained.
There was no way Ava was going to be able to walk up the stairs so Logan carried her, while Rogue and James followed along behind him. Caleb bid them all goodnight and went to find the rest of the teens, specifically Flora; he hadn't seen her much all day except in passing.
"Alright, ideas on what we're doing here?" Logan asked Rogue, as he stopped in the hallway outside of her room.
She let herself in, James following hot on her heels. "Why don't you take James for tonight and Ava can use James' bed?" she suggested.
"That sounds like a plan. What do you say little man, want to bunk with dad tonight," he asked James, as he set Ava down and reached for the boy.
"M'kay," James replied, letting Logan pick him up, his tune changed however as soon as Logan made to leave the room. "No, stay," he said, grabbing hold of the doorframe as they were passing through. It took some coaxing but Logan finally managed to convince him to let go and that they would see Rogue and Ava in the morning.
"Okay sweetie, looks like it's just me and you now, shall we see what Jubilee managed to find for you for bedtime?" Rogue said encouragingly, digging through the bag of clothes Jubilee had dropped off earlier that day.
"Who's Jubilee?" Ava asked curiously, as she climbed onto Rogue's bed to see what was in the bag.
"She's a friend of mine, she went shopping today, when I heard Logan was bringing you home, I asked her to buy some clothes for you," Rogue answered, as she pulled out a princess decorated nightie for the little girl.
Rogue got her hairbrush from the bathroom while Ava was getting changed, Ava sighed dramatically when she saw it. "Don't pull!" she said, very seriously, as she sat in front of Rogue so she could brush out her tangled hair.
"I'll do my best," Rogue replied, spritzing her hair with a bit of leave in detangler first. She quickly changed her mind and went back to the bathroom for her comb, instead of the brush, and spent the next fifteen minutes, as gently as she could, combing out the girls thick, curly, dark hair. It would need to be washed tomorrow but for now she quickly braided it so it wouldn't get too badly tangled again overnight.
"Thank you!" Ava declared, throwing her arms around Rogue's neck as she hugged her, before wriggling off the big bed and climbing into James' smaller bed. Rogue tucked her in and offered to read her a bedtime story but Ava yawned widely and shook her head as she snuggled down to sleep. "Night-night mommy," she murmured, and was asleep before Rogue had a chance to reply.
She shrugged off the girls comment and readied herself for bed, leaving the bathroom light on but pushing the door almost closed so the light didn't disturb them, before crawling into bed. After so many nights sharing her bed with one or more people, Rogue felt sadly alone tonight, even as she listened to Ava's gentle breathing from across the room.
--
Logan sat bolt upright in bed as a piercing scream split the dark night air. Even before he was fully awake, he knew it must have come from Ava. The sight that greeted him, as he threw open Rogue's bedroom door was akin to his own nightmares.
Ava was huddled in the corner of James' bed, tears streaming down her face from wide open terrified eyes. Rogue was standing beside her, one hand at her own neck as the other tried to placate the child. He didn't need to smell it to know Rogue was bleeding, badly. As he got closer, he watched the blood dribble through her fingers.
He grabbed Rogue, turning her around, shushing her when she tried to speak as he tried to tear his glove off. It wouldn't come off, not quickly enough at least, so he gave up, pulling Rogue towards him he pressed his lips to hers firmly. "Take it darlin," he murmured against her lips, as he felt her mutation sluggishly trying to siphon off his. When he felt her draw breath, finally, the first since he entered the room, he was satisfied she was healed enough. As the black at the edges of his vision began to close over him, he used the last of his energy to direct his collapse toward the bed. He didn't even feel himself hit it.
Scott and Jean rushed into the room, followed closely by Ororo, Sarah, and Caleb. They were all just in time to see Logan press his skin against Rogue's, Scott earning himself a jab to the ribs when he groaned, ‘Oh no, not again.’ Seconds later they moved into the room, helping Rogue roll Logan's limp body further onto the bed, as Jean checked him over, she was surprised that he wasn't seizing this time, just simply passed out.
Rogue moved back to Ava, who was still sobbing uncontrollably. "It's okay sweetie, everything's okay now, are you hurt?"
"I hurt you," Ava whimpered, "I didn't mean to, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" the little girl said with increasing panic.
"It's okay, I'm all better now, it was an accident but Logan fixed me," she reassured the little girl, showing her her neck which, though still bloody, was free of the pair of deep gouges that had cut into her jugular and windpipe moments early. "It was an accident, I understand that, and Logan will too, your daddy and me had the same kind of accident when we first met you know," she said, soothingly petting the little girls hair as she began to sob; in relief that she wasn't in trouble, or that Rogue was okay, she couldn't tell.
"Really?" Ava replied with a sniffle, "What happened?"
"Well, your daddy was having a nightmare and I tried to wake him up, but he didn't realise it was me and his claws came out and he stabbed me by accident, right through the chest, but then he fixed me, like he did just now," Rogue told her, it was a graphic story but she felt like the little girl needed to hear it right now.
Ava nodded. "I didn't know it was you either," she said to Rogue solemnly, it was obviously very important to her that Rogue know that.
"I know sweetie," Rogue replied, hugging her carefully so she didn't get any blood on her.
"How did daddy fix you?" the little girl asked suddenly, looking back to the unmarred flesh of her neck.
"Well, my mutation is my skin, that's why I wear gloves, it takes energy, and powers from other mutants, when Logan touched me, he gave me his healing power so I could heal right up," Rogue replied with a smile.
"So... daddy has no healing powers now?" the little girl replied with a frown.
"He still has healing powers but my skin took his energy too, so he has to sleep for a while to get his energy back," Rogue replied haltingly, it was hard to explain in a way a child would understand. She must have done an alright job though because Ava nodded understandingly a moment later before hugging her tightly again.
"I'm glad daddy could fix you," she whispered to Rogue, as she hugged her. Rogue didn't reply, just hugged her back, as much as she appreciated Logan healing her, she didn't like the fact that it hurt him so much every time he did it.
*"It's worth it darlin,"* Logan murmured from inside her head. She vaguely wondered just how much he'd changed in the six months since he'd touched her last, even from the outside she had been able to tell he was a lot calmer, more at peace somehow. She was also curious to find out if she had a new, separate version of him in her head, or if the old version had just been updated, either way she'd have to find out later as her musing was interrupted.
"Mama, mama!?" James called, as he tried to push his way through the crowd in the doorway. Scott tried to stop him but the little boy punched him hard, in a trigger point on the inside of his thigh, before scooting past him.
Rogue laughed, as Scott doubled over and massaged the point with a scowl, while James ran to her and threw his arms around her waist.
"Mama hurt," he said, trying to reach up a touch the blood on her neck.
"I'm fine, I just need a shower," Rogue replied, as a groan sounded from the bed.
In the time it took for everyone to look over to Logan, his eyes flew open before he sat bolt upright. "Marie?" he called, looking around the room until he spotted her, shoulders sagging in relief when he saw she was okay.
"I'm fine, need a shower but otherwise okay," she reassured him.
Now that it was clear everything was once again as it should be, people began filing out of the room, leaving just Logan and Rogue, and the two small children, along with Jean who wanted to finish checking Logan over now that he was awake again.
"What happened?" Logan asked, he had an idea but would appreciate an explanation.
"I'll tell you later," Rogue replied, "But I really do need that shower, now, will you sit with these guys while I go?"
"Sure, but you'll all have to come over here, because I am not moving," Logan replied with a chuckle, as he flopped back down on the bed. Ava and James quickly scurried across the room and onto the bed.
"Standard how do you feel?" Jean asked, amused, obviously he was still alive, and awake surprisingly quickly in comparison to previous run ins with Rogue's mutation.
"Fantastic, feel like I only got hit by a tow truck this time rather than a semi," Logan joked, as James bounced on the bed beside him. "Sit down buddy, it's still supposed to be sleep time," Logan reminded him, before the little boy scurried under the covers beside Logan. Ava was much more subdued as she sat beside him, seemingly unsure how to proceed.
He held out a hand to her, indicating for her to cuddle right him beside him but she sniffled in response as she teared up again. "You're not mad I hurt Rogue?" she asked softly.
"No way, kiddo, hell I've hurt Rogue worse than that, by accident, I understand, so does she, it wasn't your fault," it was Logan's turn to reassure her. With a sigh Ava threw herself into her arms and hugged him tightly.
Jean couldn't help the grin that snuck out at the sight, it seemed Logan was a natural in the parent department, despite his own misgivings. She switched the overhead light off, leaving just the duller bedside lamp lighting the room, and wished them all goodnight as she pulled the door shut behind her.
--
Rogue wrapped a towel around herself once she was finished drying off, she couldn't put her old nightie back on so she'd have to go rustle up another one from the bedroom. Logan turned his head to the bathroom as soon as she opened the door but it looked like both Ava and James were already asleep again. Quickly she tugged a clean nightie on, dropping her towel as the nightie dropped over her curves.
Logan wouldn't mention but he enjoyed the view when the towel dropped faster than the nightie. Rogue tugged on a clean pair of gloves before she moved over to the bed. She ran a hand over Ava's hair as she slept, cheek resting on Logan's chest, before she climbed on to the bed on the other side of him, settling down between Logan, and the lump under her blanket that was James.
"So, what happened?" Logan asked again, as he hugged her to him.
"Stock standard feral nightmare I guess, she started whining in her sleep, I figured she was having bad dream, went over to wake her up, was not expecting claws to come flying out to greet me," Rogue replied. "She is your daughter though so I probably should have," she added with a chuckle.
"Metal?" Logan asked worriedly. Jean hadn't been able to take x-rays of the girl because she was too scared of the x-ray machine, and Logan couldn't be in the room with her to reassure her so they'd had to give up.
"No, like bone but really dense and hard," Marie replied, "They definitely didn't cut as cleanly as yours do." She felt Logan shudder at her comment.
"Do you know what the nightmare was about?" he asked.
"We didn't quite get that far, I'll throw a wild guess out that it was the lab though, we should talk to her in the morning, whatever it was it absolutely terrified her," Rogue admitted.
Logan agreed before suggesting she sleep, it was obvious he wasn't intending on moving from her bed, which she had no problem at all with, so she grabbed a spare blanket and tugged it up over the three of them.
"And thanks hero," she whispered, as she mimicked Ava's position.
"You sure do need a lot of rescuing you know," Logan teased with a chuckle, as he felt her settle in for sleep.
"Should probably keep you around permanent then, huh?" Rogue replied.
"I'd like that," Logan answered, kissing the top of her head as she smiled against his chest.