Logan Who?.
Chapter Four: The Sabertooth, The Storm, & The Danger Room.
"Come in."
Storm's voice responded to the knock at the door. Steeling herself for this conversation, Rogue opened the Headmistress' door and walked inside, closing the door behind her. It wouldn't do to have anyone ear's drop on this conversation. It was humilating enough as it was. With a deep breath she walked over to a seat on the other side of the desk before looking up into Storm's eyes.
"Is there something the matter Rogue?"
She enquired, her expression open and sincere. Rogue supposed there was always a first for everything. At least it was a change from the accusing stares she got when she took the cure.
"What the hell is Victor 'Sabertooth' Creed doing here?!"
Rogue couldn't help but yell, standing up as she did so. Fear was mostly fueling the anger. After all, she knew if (or as soon as he did because lets face it no one could beat him when it came to being a feral) he found out she had acquired a feral side permanently and had been the one outside that bar that night she would be screwed. The fact he was here was seriously hampering her plan of staying away and hidden from the big blonde. Sure, she had done so far in the few hours he had been here but she knew she'd never be able to keep it permanently. He'd find her eventually.
"I thought you were lonely Rogue, so I brought him here to keep you company."
Her eyes widened and all she could do was drop her jaw in shock as she stared at Storm incredulously. She couldn't be serious?!
"WHAT THE FUCK?!"
It showed Rogue was angry since she had cursed. Normally, she wouldn't. She had been raised better then that but when she got to the peak of her anger and distress any filter was gone. Storm's lips tugged up at the corners as she stared at her student.
"I wasn't serious Rogue. Actually, he's here to teach you all in the Danger Room."
Rogue couldn't be sure, but she was almost positive that this was worse then Sabertooth being brought here because she was lonely.
"Seriously? What the hell are ya thinking! How could ya bring The Butcher here? How do ya even know he's not gonna gut us all in his sleep?!"
She protested, unable to see how Storm could even think of trusting that blonde giant (who strangely looked like a barbaric viking when he didn't try, and almost a pass for a wilder more untamed Thor otherwise). It was insane.
"He's not going to do that Rogue. He promised."
Rogue gaped again in disbelief before scoffing, holding back a mocking laugh.
"And ya trust him?! You're insane! You can't just believe his promise! Its like trusting a fire not to burn. It means nothing!"
Storm found herself sighing, whilst Rogue was on a roll. She had felt so fustrated, hurt, and angry for so many years that to finally have an outlet for it was so relieving that she found herself more then eager for the arguement to continue.
"Of course I trust him Rogue. He said his mate was here, and I had it verified by Professor Frost."
This time Rogue was deadly silent. They couldn't be serious? All she could think was 'please don't let it be real' and 'Professor Frost needs to find some clothes to go over that lingerie'. She had a very bad feeling about all this. As far as she knew the only 'new' in a way person he had interacted with that came from here was her, and with the way her new feral side had acted around him thus far only fueled this very very bad feeling.
"Besides, we need him Rogue. I know this may be hard for you to hear but when Logan came he really did boost the team. Infact he was so powerful he became half of the team with ease, and that was when he wasn't trying. Besides that, whilst Scott and I are trying really hard with the Danger Room sessions we can't give you the best training nor give you that edge that Logan did. Its been a few years now, I don't think Logan will be coming back, and so we need to find someone to fill in his empty role. It may even give Mr Creed a chance to turn over a new leaf, especially with his mate here within our walls. He'll want to do anything to please her, probably, and so we could make a good guy out of him yet."
Clearly Storm had been breathing in a plant used for drugs. Sabertooth change? Did a Tiger change his stripes to spots? No. No they didn't. All of this was sending her mind into a whirl, and she just knew this was the beginning of the end. She was so so screwed. Especially since there seemed to be no way of talking Storm out of this. Sometimes, she hated it when Storm could be this stubborn. It never seemed to end well for her.
"There's a Danger Room session for your group this afternoon. I suggest you prepare for it."
Storm then added, clearly finishing the discussion and suggesting she was dismissed. With a miserable feeling Rogue left the office trying to think of a way to protect herself. Sure, she could leave, but it would just add to any suspicion Sabertooth may have if she left as soon as he had arrived. Perhaps she should go to this Danger Room session and wait until morning to leave. She could make the excuse her father had a heart attack, and thus her parents' decided it was time for her to go home. That would probably work. Of course there was always a chance Sabertooth knew it was her or he'd follow her anyway to make sure for any decision she made so she knew she would just have to take the risk. She could only hope she got out of this unscathed.
The thought 'I just can't be his mate' repeated in her mind as she made her way to Jubilee's room. If anyone had the deodorant, shampoo, and conditioner to hide her natural scent then it would be Jubilee. It took some convincing but Jubilee allowed her to borrow one of each, all using the scent of something strong and sickly smelling that should not only hide her scent but put off any feral. Of course that would include her too but she'd damage her sense of smell just to remain safe. Rogue hurried back to her room, took a shower where she used every product thoroughly until her own nose burned, before putting on a long sleeved t-shirt, sweatpants (tracksuit bottoms), long socks, elbow length gloves, and trainers with her tied back in a hair band - all of it coloured in black. She should easily bled in with this outfit, except for the part where she had to cover up her entire body (although she could do nothing about her head), and not attract a certain large mutant's attention. Perfect.
Now she just had to get it over with. She felt like she was shaking in fear but she knew her body was steady as she walked to the Danger Room. She noticed she wasn't early or late which relieved her. It was another thing that helped to make sure she didn't stand out. As usual she stayed towards the back of the crowd, hoping to remain unseen for entirely new reasons this time, and followed the finally complete class into the Danger Room where the feral mutant was waiting having beckoned them in.
Well, more like snarled, but she supposed for Sabertooth that was being polite. Everyone seemed to give him a wide berth and honestly she didn't blame them.
"Now, I need to see where all of ya are up to so ya are all going to attack me and we'll go from there."
He growled, and Rogue could only gulp as she noticed his claw-like nails lengthen until they were deadly sharp. Yeah, she wasn't going to get close to him any time soon. To her surprise though the rest of the class did attack as he requested. Iceman with his ice, trying to keep Sabertooth's feet stuck to the floor, whilst Colossus in his steel form was using his extra strength to throw additional objects the Danger Room had created within the meadow-like environment. Shadowcat was weaving in and out to try to get close enough to sink Sabertooth through the floor but every time she tried he spun around to lunge at her and she meekly backed away in a hurry. There was fire coming from somewhere, not Pyro, and the ground began to shake from someone else. A blinding light flashed briefly, clearly trying to blind Sabertooth, whilst another used a supersonic yell to deafen him.
With so many students in the Danger Room it wasn't that hard for Rogue to stay hidden in the background as she weaved from one spot to another so she wouldn't be spotted not doing anything. Of course she helped where she could; throwing ice, manipulating fire, and even using metal but she always stayed far away from their target. She was not going to get anywhere in his range to test out if she had hidden her scent well enough or not. Besides, if his feral side showed his 'mate' like her feral side had shown her that male (she refused to say the shadow man or Sabertooth could be her mate, it was a ridiculous theory and besides, did Ferals even have one mate out there anyway?) then she did not want Sabertooth to be able to recognise any feature on her face as one on his shadow female.
It wasn't long before Sabertooth's mutation had them all beat. Either they were incapacitated (ie, frozen by their own ice) or they were laying in a heap exhausted and panting. Rogue faked the latter so she didn't stand out. Not only did she not get within Sabertooth's range therefore not tiring herself out or loosing but she also had feral stamina - even if she had done the exercise properly it would not have tired her out anyway. She flinched however as Sabertooth's gaze settled on her. She knew in that moment he knew she hadn't tried in the exercise and she also knew she was in deep shit for it.
"Stripes!"
He growled, and Rogue found her heart racing as she tried to stay where she was as the intense instinct to flee hit her. She gulped before she timidly spoke up.
"Er, yes sir?"
She asked, deciding that being rude would not help her cause of blending in.
"What the fuck were you doing?!"
He snarled, and she noticed with wide eyes he was starting to walk her way. Like an arrow free from the bow, Rogue bolted up onto her feet, muscles flexing as she prepared to make a run for it and she could see Sabertooth noticed it too. Especially since he seemed to pause.
"Ah was just doing the exercise ya asked of meh sir."
She lied, not even hesitating as she did so. Sabertooth crossed his thick arms over his chest as he looked her over from head to toe. It gave Rogue the creeps, and made her flinch but her feral side wanted to preen just for him. Infact, her feral side wanted to show off so much Rogue was having a hard time keeping entire control of her own body. No, she was not going to stick her chest out. No, she wasn't going to bare her dam neck. No, she was not going to take off some of the baggy clothing to entice Sabertooth.
It was so hard, especially having an argument with a new part of herself, that she ended up growling out loud with her hands on her head as she fell to her knees. The metal walls of the Danger Room began to creak, causing the meadow scene to flicker off and on, whilst ice covered the ground Rogue was knelt on, and three bone claws slid out of each of her hands. If there had been fire it would have circled the room. As it was there was none for her to manipulate, and so it saved the class and Professor from one more danger.
"Damn it! Shut the fuck up!"
Rogue snarled, feeling her body heat up - and she realised why. Her feral side was making her sweat off the fake scent. She could feel it start to work so she did the only thing she could during this breakdown; she made the ice creep up over her body in an attempt to cover her entire body therefore blocking the scents (including her own natural one) and hopefully cooling herself down.
She just had a bad feeling it was all too little too late.
Author's Note: And here's another chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it, and I loved reading all your reviews. They really do make my day.
Guest - So far she doesn't have the self confidence to do so. Don't worry, she will gain that as the story progresses and her bullies will get theirs, but for now she is just a teenager that has no sense of self worth.
Rachet - LOL That would be funny. I may just have to add that in. It may be even funnier if in the end, Sabertooth does not resemble his feline counter-part but she only finds out after he's first entered her. She'd of course freak out a hell of a lot (and more as time goes on before the deed) so it would be rather funny when she realises. XD
LXS - Same here! Victor, to me, was always more then a brainless beast. He was in various wars, he raised and trained his brother, he was a top secret team (all be it a bad one), and he's apparently killed & raped thousands - and got away with it! He has to be extremely intelligent and very well trained to do all of that. Especially to live as long as he has. That first movie did Sabertooth no justice, so I was very excited to see such a better Sabertooth in X-men Origins: Wolverine. I love Hank McCoy too - he's like a giant blue fuzzy bear to me, and I just couldn't leave him out. Besides, someone needed to replace Jean as the Doctor. I can understand why there are less supporters of Jean & Scott. They're just too perfect and she is just so stuck-up. I've never been a fan of her. Anyway, as you can see it probably is too late to run, and plan B seems to have been ruined, so next chapter we'll see Plan C or as she has labelled it 'Operation Freakout'.
Guest (2) - Aww yay! Its always nice to hear that even though some aren't a fan of a character or characters that they still love my story. I feel so flattered. I also think everyone lusts after Victor - some are just more open about it then others! haha. Thankyou so much for all the compliments.
Patito - I love this pairing too, and don't worry, I'd never abandon any of my stories.
