Testosterone Spill in Classroom Four
Author: Miss Behaving
Tagline: Rogue and the Wolverine, they were going to be epic.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: Rogue can walk out of Scott's classroom, with a little help from her overprotective X-man. Heavily implied Rogue/Logan.
Notes: Goes with my series "Curiosity, Jealousy and Reactions", "Chemical Imbalances and Other Issues" and "Leaving Skeletons in Closets". May also stand alone.
POV Jubilation Lee
Jubilation Lee slumped down in her seat a little further and hoped that she wouldn't be called on to answer any questions about whatever topic they were discussing in class today. She twirled her pen over her fingers for the thousandth time since ten o'clock this morning when this lesson started. Something white sailed past her head to land on her desk. A quick glance up indicated to her that Scott Summers had not noticed his students were passing notes. Well, with glasses like that, she wasn't really surprised. Jubilee slid the piece of paper onto her lap and unfolded it carefully.
Did you hear Rogue come in last night? It was obviously written in Kitty's flowing script. Jubilee glanced over at the girl in question. Rogue was sitting at her usual desk towards the back of the classroom with her notepad open and a sketch pencil in her hand. Her eyes may have been directed at the blackboard but her mind was without a doubt far, far away.
She met Kitty's worried eyes and shook her head minutely. Curfew was at 11 o'clock on week nights and midnight on the weekends for everyone over sixteen. When Jubilee had finally fallen asleep at one o'clock in the morning, too exhausted to stay awake any longer, Rogue still hadn't made an appearance and when she awoke a few hours later, Rogue's bed had not been disturbed. Jubilee had headed downstairs for breakfast with Kitty in a foul mood and both girls had found Rogue sitting quietly between Dr. Jean Grey and Dr. Hank McCoy thereby eliminating any chance for private conversation. Jubilee suspected that their friend had planned it exactly that way, so that they couldn't corner her and interrogate her for an explanation regarding her absence last night.
The door of classroom four was pushed open abruptly. Jubilee, like every other student in the room was glad for the interruption. Mr. Summers studied Logan's intense expression. "Logan? Is something wrong?" Then another thought occurred to him. "Is Jean-" Scott choked out panicked words. For a horrible moment, Jubilee's chest tightened uncomfortably.
"Relax Scooter, Red's fine." Jubilee let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She would have bet three months allowance that Wolverine would not have taken the time to reassure Scott. It constantly surprised her, the way the adults looked out for each other, no matter how much rivalry was between them. They were a real team that had each other's backs. She guessed they were closer than they let on to the students. "I'm here for Rogue."
"Right now?" A strange expression passed over Mr. Summer's face, a blend between annoyance, and wariness.
Jubilee looked over at Kitty who quickly shrugged back. To the best of their knowledge, Rogue hadn't done anything dangerous or reckless in the past few weeks; nothing that would explain the flair of possessiveness Wolverine displayed today. There was no reason for Wolverine to choose today of all days to pull his charge out of school.
"Right now." Wolverine dismissed the other man swiftly.
Wolverine didn't believe in formal higher education and had no qualms expressing his opinion about it or monopolizing Rogue's school hours for himself. But most of the time he left her alone. School was a time for Rogue to socialize with somebody other than himself because god knew that she didn't ever bother completing her assignments or showing up to exams.
"Logan." Mr. Summer's tone was quiet but firm; he wasn't going to cause a scene, but he wasn't letting Rogue leave his classroom without a protest either.
Logan locked eyes with Mr. Summers in challenge. "Scott."
Jubilee had the feeling that there was a completely different conversation being held in silence. And it had something to do with why none of the teachers had ever outright stopped Rogue from skipping classes whenever she or Wolverine fancied. She was sure that the two of them were holding something over the Professor's head that allowed her friend to pass all her classes every semester.
"Logan, we talked about this."
"Yeah, we did." Wolverine grunted.
There was another pregnant pause as everybody looked between Mr. Summers and Wolverine, locked in a battle of wills with Rogue as the prize. Who knew a ticking clock, could be so loud in a full classroom?
"Testosterone spill in classroom four," St. John muttered behind her. Kitty sniggered and buried her face into her notebook to muffle the sounds.
Jubilee looked over towards her friend to see her reaction, but Rogue didn't look surprised or worried, if anything there was a calculating expression on her face, like when she was presented with a particularly difficult task in the danger room.
The Mr. Summers conceded the argument with a sigh. "Alright, Rogue please hand in your assignment when you return."
Rogue had packed her belongings and was halfway to the exit even before her teacher had finished speaking. Her friend knew who was really in charge of this situation and it definitely wasn't Mr. Summers.
Slightly flustered, Scott Summers turned back to his class, or what remained of it. "Bobby, what were we up to?" His star pupil did not disappoint.
Jubilee could still remember the day Rogue first arrived at the institute with such amazing clarity. It had started out as an ordinary day. Breakfast had been a quiet affair amongst her group, lessons were only mildly interesting and interactive, and then Professor Xavier had concluded their class ten minutes early for lunch. Jubilee had no idea that everybody was being fooled into a false sense of security like the quiet before the storm arrived.
She would only learn of the real mission many months later, that Ororo Munroe and Mr. Summers had been in search of a particular mutant who had been on Magneto's radar; Wolverine. But what she remembered about that day was the incredible hype in the air, the excitement and sense of curiosity about the two new mutants in the medical laboratory. Where did the X-men find them? Why did somebody want them dead? And above all, when were they going to be released to the gossip hungry masses?
And then on that first night when Jubilee saw her classmate impaled upon the angry man's claws, she saw something else in their expressions beyond the fear and the panic and it was love. Rogue had reached out for the very person who had stabbed her like he was the one who needed reassurance. And then she touched the Wolverine and healed herself.
In that moment, Jubilee had learnt her hardest lesson since arriving at the mansion. She always knew that mutants could kill one another, but she had always assumed that Professor Xavier would protect them. Even from each other. And to discover that her mentor was more than willing to release two powerful and deadly mutants into the school's population was a shock. Wolverine had nearly killed Rogue and she had returned the favor. The old order of things had fallen away and a new hierarchy was now taking over the school. Nothing was certain anymore.
But Jubilee did know one thing for certain. Rogue and the Wolverine; whatever they were, whatever they were becoming, they were going to be epic. Maybe they had been friends, but they were definitely going to be lovers. The kind of lovers recorded in Greek Tragedies. The kind of lovers that death could not separate.