Chapter 3
When I woke up, I could feel the freezing cold air of the room on my face though I was quite warm under whatever blanket I was using. The warmth made me snuggle deeper into my cover, until a sharp pain shot across my forehead. Snapping my eyes open and sitting up fast, I felt my head where the pain radiated from and found it bandaged. Looking around frantically, I saw I was in a fairly modern bedroom with dim light coming from a solar lamp on the nightstand.
Movement from the corner startled me, and I immediately began grabbing around for any kind of weapon before I heard him. "Hey, chill out, kid. It's just me."
As the figure came closer, light began to illuminate him, showing Logan only wearing a wife beater and blue jeans. He must have changed out of his gore soaked uniform.
Feeling my heart rate even out at his familiar face, I managed a small smile, wincing at the headache that throbbed through my brain. "Logan," I said with a relieved tone. "Where are we? What happened?"
Logan ignored my questions for a moment while he leaned forward and began inspecting my scrapes and injuries. "Are you in pain?" he asked, moving my head bandages aside to take a look.
Trying to pull my mind together, I lightly pushed him away as I said, "Other than the expected headache, I'm sure I'll be fine. Now, update me."
"Marie," he said softly, brushing a hand over my neck, my thin scarf the only thing separating his fingers from my skin. "I think you should rest. Pretty sure ya got a concussion. I fuckin' told Xavier this would happen."
His tone expressed concern, but it didn't sooth my temper in the least. "Hey, I was doin' just fine on my own!" I snapped, vaguely noting that the warmth I was wrapped in was in fact Logan's leather jacket. I really, really needed to ignore that for the moment. "I was in a safe spot to pick them creatures off. Y'all comin' in just saved me a lotta time."
"Marie," Logan growled, making sure I looked him in his green eyes as fire seemed to blaze in them. "You were cornered. If you want to take some of my – "
"No! I'm not taking any of your life force. And I wasn't cornered!" I argued, regretting my louder tone as my head gave a particularly nasty throb. "I had two ways to go in that vent. I was just doin' my job by killin' them things. Now answer my damn questions, Logan." I was no longer a child that he could just order around. He may have been my protector for many years, but that didn't give him the right to dictate my every move.
Logan sighed wearily, sitting back on his haunches and gritting his teeth. "Me and Bobby carried you back to this house right outside town. He set up ice barriers around it so we could get some rest and wait for you to wake up."
At the mention of Bobby, I felt my gut twist a bit more than it already was. That explained the cold air but it was impossible for me to have wanted him along on this venture regardless. He knew it was over between the two of us, and Logan knew it too, yet Bobby still stayed by my side like a lost puppy. I appreciated that he still cared for me, I just wish he wouldn't. "Where is he?"
"Upstairs, asleep," he grunted, putting a cigar to his lips and lighting it. I wrinkled my nose as the smell of smoke hit me, but I ignored it as I always did. "So, other than a headache, you feelin' alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, moving to place my feet on the floor. Logan stopped my legs from ever clearing the edge of the bed.
"You need to stay here and rest," he said sternly, chewing into the cigar. "If you don't want my... help, then you at least need to lie back for a while. We'll head out tomorrow for the next town. Think you can manage that?"
I eyed Logan warily, knowing he was only telling a half-truth. We may head out the next day for the next town, but that didn't mean Logan wouldn't force me out of the action. With the way my head was pounding, I knew it wouldn't be an easy task to take on more monsters the next day, but I could still do it.
"We'll see," I said with finality, easing myself back into the throw pillow of the couch I was on. "So, why am I on the couch and the Ice Princess upstairs gets a bed?"
I almost thought that Logan might choke, but he straightened his face as he responded with a low tone, "He was keepin' watch. Fell asleep. I can hear anything that gets close so I stayed up."
"Oh, shug," I said, shaking my head lightly. "You need rest, too."
I heard Logan snort at that before saying, "I regenerate so I can go a lot longer without sleep than most. Don't worry about me, kid."
Sighing loudly I said, "Please find a different word for me. I'm not a kid anymore and it's a li'l bit degradin'. I haven't gone through the shit I have just to still be considered a kid."
I could see Logan smiling, his Wolverine teeth almost bared in a grin. "I know. I just like drivin' ya crazy."
I watched as he gave me one last smirk before smashing out his cigar and taking up post on the couch adjacent to me, propping his boots off the end of the loveseat. "Well, stahp," I said, my southern accent rolling easily from my tongue. "At least find a different name to call me if you can't use Rogue or Marie."
There was silence and Logan seemed to ponder my words. I could hear the house creaking, settling as all structures did. If there were one of those things nearby, Logan would have heard it. Finally after a good few silent moments, he said, "I think I can do something about that."
Rolling my eyes, I kept my focus on the lamp beside me. "If you call me something stupid like minion or sunshine, I will kick your ass."
I heard a soft chuckle come from him, but it was low and fading. I could tell he was almost asleep. I stayed where I was for a good forty minutes before I was definitely sure he was out. Standing quietly from the couch, I limped my way to the stairs and climbed them, determined to reach the roof so I could see our surroundings. It was in the dead of night, but I wasn't sure exactly what time it was. Once I came to the landing, I quickly found my way to the attic and through a window to get onto the roof.
Down below me, I could see the ice wall Bobby had built to keep out any trouble. It stood close to fifteen feet tall, but it wasn't tall enough to impede my view of the surrounding area.
It was dark but I was certain we were surrounded with nothing but trees. A light breeze rolled over the roof, slightly chilly but not as chilly as the ice walls made it. I could hear various nighttime wildlife echoing throughout the trees. A coyote wasn't too far away, and I was pretty sure I heard a couple of owls nearby. Cicadas and bullfrogs let themselves be heard along with the other sounds, and I was suddenly missing my home, back in Mississippi. Being able to see the stars so brightly was something I had sorely missed up until that point, where I could look up and see a sky so clear, the Milky Way was a prominent splash of stars streaking through the night sky.
Sitting with my knees drawn to my chest and my arms around my knees, I was looking endlessly into the stars when I heard the sound of someone stumbling onto the roof with me. When I looked around, my heart sank at the sight of Bobby.
"Hey, you're awake," he said, coming up beside me and sitting down. He was entirely too close but I couldn't bring myself to be rude and asked him to move.
"Um, yeah," I said meekly, absently brushing a hand across my bandaged forehead. "Came out for some fresh air. Figured I'd keep a look out while Logan passed out."
"You should be resting," he said, looking at me with an almost incredulous look.
Snorting derisively, I leaned back to where my legs were stretched in front of me and I was leaning back on my arms. "I'm fine. I can't sleep right now anyway."
"Me, either," Bobby said quietly. I was looking up at the stars to avoid looking at him but I could feel him getting closer. "I was worried about you, Marie."
Gritting my teeth and biting my tongue, I managed, "Didn't seem all that worried since you decided to take a nap while you were supposed to be on watch."
I heard him give a small, hesitant laugh. "Yeah, sorry about that. Used a lot of my energy today." I could feel him move even closer to me, just enough to feel the chill that he constantly radiated. "But I really was worried. I... I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to you."
That's when I felt the touch of his gloved hand on my covered waist, while the other tried to bury itself into my hair as he pressed his body to mine.
"Bobby, what are you doing?" I yelled out, trying to shove him away. "You know we're over and you know you can't touch me so why the hell are you still tryin'?"
He was trying to maintain his hold on me, tightening his grip and nuzzling his face into the front of my shirt. "Please, Marie. I can't... I can't let something like that happen again and not know if we could ever..."
I wasn't sure where he was going with that sentence, but I didn't like it so I immediately bucked against him, loosening his grip just enough to slip away. As I lunged under his arm, I didn't counter-balance my weight enough and ended up rolling over and down the roof. I screamed out, trying my hardest to reach out and stop myself. Right as my foot came into contact with the gutter, I was suddenly stopped mid-roll as I was lifted into muscled arms.
"What the hell is going on out here? Marie, are you okay?" I heard Logan's harsh tone and I knew it was him and he was furious.
"Nothin'" I said breathlessly, shooting a glare at Bobby. "I slipped and almost fell off the porch."
"Don't lie to me, Marie," I heard Logan growl dangerously. "It's all in your scent. What did you do to her, Popsicle?" He asked roughly, pulling me tighter to himself.
"I didn't do anything!" Bobby stammered out, standing up and straightening himself out. "I was trying to check her injuries and – "
"You're fuckin' lyin', too," Logan almost roared, seething as he looked at the cryokinetic mutant with fire in his eyes. "I can smell you all over her and she smells of nothing but fear and embarrassment!"
Suddenly, I was on my feet as Logan had set me down to get in Bobby's face. Grabbing the much younger man by the front of his uniform, Logan rumbled, "If you lay one more hand on her and I smell her fear, you won't have to worry about your luck with anything but eunuchs for the rest of your existence."
Just as suddenly as I was put down, I was swept right back into the arms of the Wolverine as the two of us went back inside the house. The man refused to put me down as we made our way back to the living room as he muttered the whole way there.
Once I was settled back on the couch, I watched as he swiftly turned around in the direction of the stairs.
"Wait! Logan!" I called out, letting his leather jacket slide to the floor as I stood from the couch uneasily. The feral turned and looked at me with pure rage burning in his eyes. "Don't... Don't do anything to him. He was just scared an' confused. It was my fault for almost fallin' off the roof. So just... Leave him alone. If he causes any more trouble, we'll send him back to the school. Then we can do this, just be you an' me, like old times."
Logan's face showed great inner turmoil as he seemed to fight against himself just as hard as he would any enemy. He was tense, obviously still ready to go do something to Bobby that he'd possibly regret later. We stood staring at each other for probably close to two minutes without saying another word, Logan maintaining his rough stature the whole time. Finally, his eyebrows seemed to draw away from each other as he began to approach me.
Putting his hand lightly on my shoulder, he made me lay back down on the couch and used his fallen jacket to cover me once again.
"If he puts one more toe out of line, he's out." Struggling with his words for a moment, he cleared his throat and continued. "I could smell... I could smell his overwhelming sadness but I could also smell his arousal. He was going to try something... Something I could never allow."
Fear struck me to my core as he said those words, but I couldn't stop from arguing, "He... He couldn't! My skin – "
"There are ways around your skin," he growled, seemingly to himself. "S'not as fun, but he was going to..."
I was pretty sure I was already pale as a ghost, but the more I thought about, the greener I felt with sickness. The pit of my stomach seemed as though my guts were being twisted painfully, and it horrified me to think about that... especially with Bobby. Yes, I was almost completely without experience when it came to that subject, but I had done my own exploring, and I knew how everything was supposed to go. And none of it involved being forced.
"I'm fine," I said finally, though the high pitch to my voice probably gave me away. "We just... Don't need to start fightin' amongst ourselves. There's already enough shit goin' on."
Logan didn't seem to like that idea, but he nodded anyways, posting up on the couch adjacent to me once more. I knew there was no way he would be sleeping for the rest of the night, so I decided to close my eyes and try and clear my mind.
Over the years as an adult at the school, Charles slowly worked with me on finding ways to get control over my skin, but it was nearly impossible unless I was completely still and quiet and focused. When the deadly charge of my skin would finally die out, I would feel it and immediately become excited, which automatically made my skin deadly once more. I practiced regular meditation to work more diligently with it, but the longest I ever made it last was three solid minutes.
And I was only able to do that because I was alone, with no one to watch me or divert my focus.
I probably laid on the couch under the warmth of Logan's jacket for forty-five minutes, trying to clear my mind and focus on closing the chest in my mind that contained my mutation. It was my mental way of physically getting my skin to try and stop radiating death. If I focused hard enough, I could get the latch to shut, which immediately made my skin feel soft and warm and like I was being massaged with a cloud. Charles managed to find that exact moment in my mind and touched my bare wrist. I panicked and my skin immediately went back to feeling dirty and exposed, but not before the professor could tell me that it had worked. For that brief period of time, someone touched my skin and didn't almost die.
Though it was only the smallest of victories, I was determined to work with it. It was years in progress, but I thought that one day I would finally find the leverage I needed to open and close it at will, or at least shut it for good. I could live without my mutation, but not without my mutant friends.
"Marie?" Logan's voice finally rang out at close to an hour of silence. It effectively pulled me back out of my meditation, in which I had only succeeded in turning off my skin briefly four times.
"Yeah, Logan?" I responded softly.
"Don't... Don't ever let him get his hands on you again. I'm still feral. You're still part of my pack. I don't know if I can control myself if it happens again."
The silence that swirled around the roof was definitely uncomfortable, but I could understand his feelings. "It won't happen again. Mine an' Bobby's relationship has been over for a long time. I'm gonna set him down tomorrow and make it clear once and for all that I can't have him trying to be all over me or defending me all the time."
I heard a low chuckle come from Logan, the second one of the night. "I don't mind the kid defendin' ya, I just can't ignore the smell of your anxiety and discomfort. Hell, he can protect ya all day long, but when it makes you nervous, it sets me on edge."
I heard him hesitate and then silence, which made me think he had something to add. However, after another uncomfortable silence, I knew he wasn't going to continue.
I was almost finally asleep when I heard Logan mumble sleepily, and almost in too low a voice for me to hear, "My pack. Mine."
As you can tell, I don't like Bobby. Please R&R!
