Christ. What a welcome home. "What the fuck was she doin' fightin' on the team, Summers?"
"She wasn't fighting on the team, Logan. She was shopping. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"She was goddamn fightin' when I got there." Fuck. I got back just in time - emergency at the mall downtown, Brotherhood all over the goddamn place, Blackbird up and ready to go, Rogue holdin' out against that bastard Sabretooth... Geez. Thank god I didn't stop at that diner for lunch.
"She didn't have much choice, Logan - or would you prefer that they'd kidnapped her again?"
"I'd prefer that you lot would keep a better fuckin' eye on her, that's what I'd prefer."
"We got there as soon as we could. And if you're so anxious about Rogue, why aren't you around to keep an eye on her? We have an entire school to look out for, Logan; we can't watch every student every minute of the day."
"Fuck you." Damn. Shit. The bastard's right. I shoulda been here. I've gotta go see how she is.
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"Hey, Jeannie. She doin' okay?" Rogue's asleep, or still unconscious. She doesn't look too battered, but she looks so little, lyin' there like that. So frail. Only a kid. Damn. Why didn't I come back sooner?
"She'll be all right, physically. She absorbed a lot of Sabretooth's healing powers. I'm just worried about her state of mind. Dealing with him in her head - that won't be easy for her."
"Shit. I shoulda been here." Scooter was right, damn him. I promised I'd take care of her. Bang-up job I'm doin' so far.
"Well, you're here now, and you were here in time to help her out. You can't watch over her all the time, you know."
"I shoulda been here before, though. If I had -"
"If you had, what? You wouldn't have let her go shopping, on the off-chance the Brotherhood dropped by? You'd have gone with her every time she left the mansion? It was bad luck, but we got through it."
"I guess. Are the other ones okay?" At least she wasn't on her own at the mall. Those other kids were puttin' up a pretty good fight. Christ, if it'd just been her against Sabretooth and Mystique and Toad... Hell, I don't wanna think about it. Thank Christ those scum are in jail now. Should keep 'em out of our hair for a while. I woulda killed 'em, if it was up to me. Chuck nixed that. Personally, I think that just gives 'em another chance to fuck up our lives, but he don't see it that way.
"Jubilee and Kitty. They're a bit knocked about, but otherwise fine. Logan, are you going to stay around a while? Because I think it's now that you could be really useful to Rogue. She'll have a lot to get through, with Sabretooth in her head. She could use you being around for a while. She trusts you."
Does she still trust me? I'll see when she comes around. Don't know if she even saw me turn up for the fight. She got knocked out almost the moment I got there. Didn't see me tear seven shades out of Sabretooth. She'd already drained him, though - he was pretty easy to deal with, compared to usual. More of a Sabrekitten. Heh. "I'll stick around. I'm no shrink, though."
"She doesn't need a shrink. She can come to me or the Professor for that. She needs a friend, someone she can rely on. She knows you do your best to take care of her when you're here, but I think it would be good for her if she had you around for a while, just to make her feel safer, until she feels strong enough on her own again."
"Okay. I can do that. Thanks, Jeannie." Gorgeous Jeannie. Good to see her. Was good to see her chuck a truck at that bastard Sabretooth with her mind.
"What for?"
"For takin' care of her. For not tellin' me I'm a shit because I wasn't here to look out for her." Scooter couldn't wait to say it. He don't deserve her.
"Logan, that's not true. Rogue is tough - she doesn't need round-the-clock protection. Just be here when she really needs you, that's all."
"Yeah, okay."
"And Logan?"
"Mmm-hmm?"
"Welcome back."
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