A/N Well, here ya go! Chapter 4 in it's entirety...I can't exactly say that I'm in love with this chapter, it's not as well written as I'd hoped..but I haven't had much time to get into it with school'n all. And I did wanna get something up soon, so here it is :). I hope you enjoy, and any criticism/flames/happy thoughts are always welcome! Thank again to Mercury Angel, and Shi no megami for their wonderful, wonderful support! And also for Marauder Heir, I feel so loved D.

End A/N

Immediately after his rough encounter with Micki, Wolverine left the mansion. He had always been pleased that the mansion was in a rural area, because that made it easier for him to disappear into the woods when he needed to vent his frustrations. And right now, there was a definite need for him to vent some of his anger. He barreled angrily through the woods, not even pushing tree limbs away from his face. The boughs only stung him for a moment, and then there was almost no trace, other than a drop or two of blood, that he had been so violently struck. He ran fast, and he ran hard. It did not matter to him where he went, only that he did go. Wolverine generally did his clearest thinking when he was pushing his body to the limit, which is why he reverted to such a primal state so often. Things were simpler when acted more like an animal, right and wrong were clear.

The X man thought as he ran. He really hadn't gotten what he wanted out of his encounter with Micki. He didn't want THE answer to his question (he would have been disappointed if he had), but he did want some clarifications. There was really only one useful piece of information that she gave him. It's true that he didn't know that she, and the "others" weren't actually from Earth, but that was a side issue. She gave that information up too easily for it to play too much of a factor. The true piece of information that she gave Wolverine was given when she slipped up with her timetables. It was such an amateur mistake, Wolverine was extremely shocked. He splashed heavily through a shallow stream, as he thought on. She clearly wasn't a huge threat, unless she meant to do that…Which Wolverine didn't believe. He could feel her fear, it was palpable…she had just slipped. This all just lead to one conclusion. The girl wasn't truly a danger to the school. She was amateur at what she was doing. Wolverine knew, based upon how amateur she clearly was that whatever she had been doing she did away from the mansion. With all the ways she had slipped up in their first encounter, and now in their second, there was no way she could sneak around the mansion without the Wolverine's knowledge. This is especially true since he had been on alert for her. And the only times when she would be able to sneak out without Wolverine's knowledge would be during her time in the Library, or her time alone in her room. Of course, all of this logic snapped through Wolverine's brain in a matter of a moment, almost instinctively. He focused his thoughts for the rest of the run on ways to catch her in the act of leaving.

When Wolverine finished his run, he found himself at the edge of a cliff. He frowned deeply. He had never been there before. It was a gorgeous scene, with a river flowing serenely below, and the forest continued below. If one looked hard, they could see that the forest continued a fair ways away in some rolling hills.

Wolverine had no interest in the view, he had seen more beautiful things and they hadn't touched him. He was tired, however. He had run for a good hour before stopping before the cliff. Wolverine sat down on the edge, and liked the feeling of dangling his legs hundreds of feet above the ground. He sat there for a good twenty more minutes, just relaxing after his comparatively short jog. He stood, and decided that even though Micki wasn't a threat, she was still worth the fun of figuring out. He then left to finish his run.

  

Wolverine found himself back at the mansion at about 5:30. He was covered with his own blood, dirt and sweat. He frowned and mounted the concrete stairs that lead to the entrance of the mansion. Judging by the look that Cyclops had on his face earlier, Wolverine guessed that it wouldn't be quiet on the way to his room. That was a perk to being Wolverine; he gets into fights very easily.

The rugged man made his way first to his room, then disrobed and put a towel around his waist. He then proceeded to grab his small shower kit and head out of the room. He was glad that the part of the mansion he stayed in didn't have many students nearby because he certainly didn't want anyone to see him in his state… Wolverine wondered why Xavier didn't invest in installing bathrooms in the professors' rooms. The guy was so filthy rich he could afford an underground base, so why not some extra master bedrooms around the old homestead? In any case, Wolverine walked down the hallway to the bathroom, and went about showering himself.

As he returned, clean and un-bloodied, he was unsurprised to see Scott was waiting for him outside of his room. Of course the redhead knew that the rugged man had returned, he was only a few doors down from Wolverine. The shorter man still hadn't forgiven the professor for putting him so close to the pair; it ate him up every time he thought of Jean being so close to Scott.

"Logan." Scott's voice was icy.

Wolverine didn't respond, he just pushed past Scott and into his room, closing the door heavily behind him.

Scott didn't move from outside of Wolverine's room, he just yelled through the door. "Don't avoid me, now. You went too far by accosting a student."

Wolverine opened the door, now clad only in a pair of old blue jeans. "I didn't accost her, only interrogated."

"By holding her off the ground? You can't do that with our students, Logan. They are looking for a safe place here, not to be "interrogated" by some half-crazed wild beast!"

Wolverine was exhausted, and didn't feel much like putting Scott in his place, or really arguing too much longer. "Are my feeling supposed to be hurt by this? Maybe we should go do what you tell all the little kiddies to do, and ask the Professor to mediate this, whaddya think Mr. Summers?" Wolverine, in the absence of extreme anger, resorted to sarcasm.

"Maybe I SHOULD talk to the Professor, I really don't think you're safe around the students if you're going to be throwing them into walls and leaving them crying!"

"And I guess this is where I'm supposed to be feeling guilty, then. Lemme tell you something, buddy, Wolverine doesn't tend to respond to your talks the way some of your adolescent friends do. Go ask Chuck, he has a much better idea of what goes on here than you do, even though he's gone half the time."

"I will talk to him, and just remember I'm watching you, Logan." Scott turned his back on Wolverine and walked away.

Wolverine just closed the door. He usually didn't have the patience for that kind of banter…but today he was too tired to piss Scott off; He had bigger fish to fry. He turned around and immediately recognized a strange odor in the room. Regardless of exhaustion his senses were still in tune, he could still smell when people had been in his room without his permission. The scent was there, but it mingled. It had been there at least an hour. She had been here. Wolverine looked throughout the room for what had been moved. He had even fewer possessions than the girl had, so it took him next to no time to see that everything had been placed exactly back where he had left it, right down to the crumpled pair of jeans that he had thrown down a few days earlier. He lifted the pair up and sniffed them. She had just checked the pockets and put them back, in the exact way she had found them. Wolverine was surprised by the fact that she had left her scent so clear, it was almost so strong as to be obnoxious.

The man became enraged at the idea of what the girl had done. It was clear in his mind that she was doing this just to anger him. As far as he was concerned, this provocation would not go unchecked; He would see to it that she would be revealed. Wolverine was going to know what she was doing, and he was going to know within the week. Wolverine decided that the time had come to up the anti. He was going to know what was going on, at least within the next two weeks. The Wolverine pulled some clothes on and left the room. He was tired, and ready to get something from the kitchen. Maybe while he was eating he could consider further what he was going to do about "that girl."

The man stalked down the hall; oblivious to the students he passed. To most of Xavier's students, this kind of action come from their 'art' teacher was fairly normal. The students did their best to stay out of his way, and just carried on about their business. All of them, except for one.

"Wolverine?" the student was almost pleading for his attention, and he didn't respond.

"Wolverine!"

Wolverine wasn't in the mood to talk; he continued down the hall and ignored the voice. "LOGAN!"

Wolverine was halfway down the stairs when he felt a hand on his shoulder, the xman was so wound up that he allowed himself to slip back into old habits. His fist went behind him and knocked the offending person heavily back down on the stairs. He heard a feminine grunt of pain and turned to look, suddenly aware of his actions.

"Kid!" Wolverine's eyes went wide as he realized what he'd done. She had pulled herself up to a sitting position, and was coughing heavily. Good thing the girl was tough, and had fallen just right; otherwise she might have broken something, or had a concussion. He dropped his knee down on the stair beside her, and grabbed her shoulders, careful not to touch her skin.

"Rogue, are you allright?" He was quick to try and cover his feeling of guilt, very aware of the students watching. But that didn't stop the girl from seeing it in his eyes, even through her brown and white hair.

It took her a moment to regain control of herself; he had just hit her in the diaphragm and knocked the wind out of her. "I'm, I'm fine!" Her southern accent was clear, even through her coughing. She looked at him her watering eyes emanating strength.

Wolverine felt an even deeper pang of guilt, which he didn't think was possible. She wasn't crying, was she? He was extremely relieved when he realized that her eyes were just watering from all the coughing she did, and she wasn't emotionally too upset…yet.

Wolverine looked quickly up at the other kids, trying hard, again to mask his guilt. "What are you all lookin' at! Get to where you're going, already!" He suppressed the urge to bare his claws at them, he'd hurt enough students this day to risk getting kicked out, and he definitely didn't want to try Chuck's patience that much. The kids were quick to move once they'd heard the tone in his voice.

He looked back at Rogue again, "Look, kid..."He started, but she interrupted before he could finish.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't 'of grabbed you like that. I was just angry…" She wiped the water out of her eyes, and stood up. "I'll go now." Rogue took a step onto the stair down past Wolverine, who quickly rose as well.

"No, wait," Wolverine said quickly, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hit you." Wolverine didn't like the feel of apologizing, so he quickly changed the subject. "Look…ya hungry?"

Rogue was taken aback by Logan's offer, but more so by the apology. The man didn't apologize. Period. "Well, yeah…But I'm supposed to go meet Lily and Jen…We're gonna go'n eat together…"

"I'm sure they'll be fine for a night." He had made an offer, and he wouldn't back down. It just wasn't the man's way.

Rogue finally consented, and the two headed down the stairs to the garage, down past the very place were Wolverine first came in contact with Micheala. He opened the door and stepped out into the oil-smelling area. He walked calmly past a wall of various tools and safety gear.

Rogue realized the wall that they'd just passed, and looked at Logan funny "Won't we need helmets?"

Wolverine pulled himself into his red doorless jeep and looked back at her, the same look on his face. "If you really want one, but I'd like to think that tree's aren't going to fall in our way this time."

Rogue smiled, thinking back to when they first met, and pulled her into the passenger seat. She latched her seatbelt. "As long as you buckle up this time, I don't think we'll need them."

Wolverine pushed the garage door opener and started the car. He shrugged off the need to put on his seatbelt. "Didn't do much harm last time."

Rogue rolled her eyes, "And I'm sure that your old truck feels the same way…" She felt the dashboard of the jeep fondly. "I always though you drove a motorcycle..."

Wolverine nodded as they drove off. "I do."

"So... this isn't yours? Before, you just had that truck and your bike. How can you afford this new jeep, and that new motorcycle?"

Wolverine raised an eyebrow at her, and remembered just how talkative she could be. "I live in a mansion. You do the math."

Rogue nodded, and leaned back in her seat. She had missed spending time with her favorite member of the x men.

As they drove, Wolverine tried to figure out exactly where they were going to eat. Most of the places that he went to weren't suitable for such a young girl to go into… The only place that Wolverine could think of that wasn't a chain restaurant was a local diner. Besides, the man wasn't exactly dressed appropriately for a sit down restaurant.

It was going on 7o'clock and twenty minutes from when they left when Wolverine and Rogue arrived at the Double T diner. The two entered the bright environment and seated themselves.

It was a fairly clean establishment, with chrome fixtures, and nostalgic jukeboxes at each seat, which was covered with red vinyl. Wolverine always felt comfortable coming into a diner, something about it just felt normal to him... It was as though the diners were timeless.

It wasn't long before a waitress made her way over. "Hey, Hon's, sorry it took so long, we're having a bit of a busy night." The woman wore a pink 50's style A-line skirt with a white apron. She had a nametag that read "Maggy" and looked to be about 35. Her hair was down to her shoulders, brown, and in a ponytail. She had warm blue eyes, which she allowed to hover over Wolverine…who took no notice of the woman's interest. He was more interested in the fact that their busy night included 3 other patrons.

"Anything I can getcha to drink?" She asked with a smile.

Rogue spoke up first "Just a coke would be nice..."

Wolverine frowned when he remembered that diners didn't serve beer…He could use a cold one "Water for me."

Maggy scribbled their order down on a piece of paper, "I'll be back in just a minute with your drinks." She walked off.

Wolverine disappeared into his own thoughts again. He really couldn't focus on much besides what on Earth that girl was doing with his mansion…

Rogue leafed through the small menu…Which really meant she turned the placemat over.

"Hmm, All-American food, I see." Rogue mused, "It's been a while since I've eaten anything with this much grease…"

Wolverine looked up at her. "That gonna be a problem?"

Rogue shook her head. "Really, anything sounds good about now. I'm so hungry" Rogue smiled. "It's been crazy lately."

"What do you mean, 'crazy'?"

"Well, I dunno. You've been so distant….I just dunno, you've been sort of…Well, I don't know. Not here. I've missed you."

Wolverine looked at Rogue funny, emotions weren't quite his department…and as much as he'd like to comfort the girl, it just wasn't his thing. "I've been busy."

Rogue shook her head, clearly unhappy with his response. "With what? This isn't right, Logan! You've isolated everyone! You just haven't been the same since…Since!"

Wolverine was downright shocked by Rogue's emotional outburst. This didn't make sense, he always felt a sort of closeness to the girl, but he had never exactly buddied up with anyone at the mansion. Isolated them? They'd been isolated since the beginning. Wolverine began to draw conclusions. "Since when?"

Rogue frowned, she was feeling really angry. "Well, really, since Lily came here!"

Her outburst caught his attention. She was referring to one of the "others", in fact, the one that escalated the actions of all of them. She was the hub of the other's stay there, and their actions. But, then he realized something. She was definitely projecting her anger at someone else on him. He would have to make his next statement as gentle as possible. "You and freeze-boy having issues?" Well, gentle for him, at least.

Rogue threw her head on her arms. "Gawd, is THAT obvious!"

Wolverine shrugged. "Call me Sherlock. What Happened?"

"Well, HE's not the same anymore! Ever since they came back, he's been distant ALL the time. I'm so angry at him! He's still treating me the same, but IT's not the same!"

Wolverine didn't like where the conversation was headed, and he found that he was already in way over his head, Teenage angst was not his thing. "Why are you talking to me about this, Rogue? I ain't exactly a therapist."

"Well, you know." Rogue was having issues articulating herself, so she lifted her head to look at Wolverine, and sat on her hands. "I thought you'd understand. It's…It's not Bobby's fault…as much as I want it to be…Well, you see Colossus…He's been here...and...Well, I don't know." Rogue pulled a hand out and put her head on it, clearly distressed.

Wolverine was not interested in continuing this conversation any longer. Sure, he liked the kid, but he didn't want to know anything about any guys dating her, much less a teenaged love triangle drama. "And what makes you think I'll understand anything about this?"

Rogue looked up again. "Well, you know. I thought, with your relationship with…you know…You might understand, and give me advice?"

Wolverine's face went blank. He suddenly understood exactly what Rogue was referring to. It cut him to the core. He knew that his feelings were obvious to Jean, but to everyone else? That was not what he wanted. And the kid was relating her teenage angst to his relationship? Wolverine suddenly became angry, by instinct. Luckily, however, the waitress arrived just in time to keep Wolverine from doing anything rash.

"Hey, Hon's, I've got your drinks. One Coke" She set it before a very stricken looking Rogue, who had seen Wolverine's face. "And one water. Ya'll know what you wanna eat?"

Marie looked up, unhappily. "I'll just have the American…"

Wolverine regained control of himself. "I'll have the same."

For the rest of the meal, Rogue was rather sheepish, and for once, Wolverine tried to start some conversations. One thing that Rogue could do without any effort was make Wolverine feel guilty, and no matter what he did, this pang wouldn't go away.

When the two arrived back at the mansion, Wolverine looked over at Rogue.

"Look, Marie." He surprised her; he almost never used her real name. "I ain't a therapist, and I'm not going to say some clichéd thing about how you should follow your heart. But, I'll tell you what I think will be good for you. I think you oughtta stick with Bobby. Just try to, okay?" The Wolverine quickly exited the vehicle, feeling very uncomfortable. Saying that took a lot out of him, and stirred up emotions that had been festering for a while. In any case, he left feeling much unhappier than when he started.

He left behind a very shocked and stricken Rogue. He had not given her the answer she expected, or hoped for…