Chapter 4

Ah crap, thought Marie.

Seconded, snickered Eric. He had never truly like the dope his host had been fond off. The child was… Too simple minded. Plus, he had hurt her. And when you get a front seat to pain, you tend to resent the cause of it.

"I'm serious Rogue, what the hell is going on with you?" Bobby demanded, taking another step forward, his arms fight ready at his side.

The growling that was emanating from Roscos barrel chest got louder till most of the cafeteria was staring again. This much attention directed at her again in such a short time was making Marie tense up even more. Which in turn made Rosco even more tense, his hackles rising up and he started to stand up on the chair. By this point, Wolverine had reached the table, practically throwing the food on the table. The water bottles fell over and rolled off the side of the table. The loud banging and the noisy plastic crinkling made Rogue flinch. At the sudden movement, Rosco stood up fully, his hackles up, teeth bared. His had moved so his whole body was between the perceived threat and his new owner, his feet perfectly balanced to jump off the seat.

In the background at the x-men table, Charles was looking on with his hand on the control of his chair, an intense look on his face. Jean had a look on her face that Marie would later remember and call it vindictively smug; as if she didn't expect anything less of a disaster to happen.

"Bobby, Ah dunno whatcha talking abo-" Marie in her southern twang managed stuttered out, her hand gripped tight on Roscos collar, both to hold him back and ground herself.

He has no right to come storming over here, Eric said indignantly. The metal knife and fork started to clatter lightly against the table. The more emotional Magneto got, the more control Marie had. Though maybe control isn't the right word, as she had little to no ability to focus it. It was like a hurricane inside her and she was getting access to let it out. And not in a good way.

Just as the Wolverine was moving his hands to his sides, ready to pop his claws, the Professor turned to his left and said, "Storm."

She turned to look at his face and swiftly nodded, "Yes Professor." As she stood up, her eyes turned white and she quickly made a controlled rain cloud right above Bobby's head.

The sudden indoor downpour and the rather high pitched yelp was enough of a stall of the impending debacle. Rosco hadn't stopped posturing, but his growling had quieted at the small amount of water splattering against his nose. Logan couldn't contain his bark of laughter. He rocked back on his heels, unable to control the smirk on his face, thoroughly enjoying seeing the brat soaked.

Marie also couldn't help the giggles bursting out of her mouth. She tried to hold then back by holding her hand over her mouth, but seeing Bobby looking like a drowned rat, icicles starting to form at the ends of his flattened hair and the edges of his clothes, it was just too much after the oppressive atmosphere and stress of the last few minutes. If they were a bit manic and high pitched, she didn't think anyone would call her out on it.

Rosco, at her laughter, turned around, pivoting surprisingly gracefully on the small seat for such a large frame. Head tilted at the odd sounds his owner was producing, he stared at Marie, his dog face confused. This just set Marie off on another giggle fit, her whole body shaking with laughter, her hair falling over her face. She was close to tears and she couldn't really tell if it was because of laughing so much or being over anxious just half a minute ago.

Bobby's soaked body was slowly icing up the longer he stood there, embarrassed about what had just happened.

"Ororo, I meant go over there with me and break it up." sighed Charles, rubbing his forehead. The emotions being forced on his mind was starting to grate on him, beginning a headache behind his eye.

Storm barely looked repentant. "Rogue has been ostracized for the last few months. I remember what that was like. And that boy hasn't spoken to her for weeks. He needed to cool off, don't you think Professor?"

Charles just signed again. He could feel her slightly vindictive righteousness brushing against his mental space and decided to leave that discussion to another time. He looked up at Bobby, still slowly icing over. Much later, he thought despondent. The children get uptight so easily.

The silent chair glided across the room, most of the laughter tapering off as he passed the tables. Marie was still giggling lightly, trying to control herself. The underlying distress undercutting everything in her mind pierced Xavier somewhere deep. It reminded him vividly of the fractures of Eric's mind when he first reached out to him that day with the submarine.

Logan heard the electronic wirr of the Professor's chair coming up behind him. His smug smirk heightened and he strided past the Iceboy to slide past Rosco's chair to stand behind Marie. Even when Logan was right in front of Rosco, he shifted slightly to continue staring at the idiot boy. He didn't pay any mind to Logan being behind his back, he understood that the large man was protecting his girl as well. Marie's shoulders were still shaking slightly, a note of hysteria rising in her giggle. He glanced around, wary of the other people in the room and then looked back down at Marie, her shoulders still shaking, the gasps of her breathes getting laboured.

Fuck it.

He set his mouth and reached out. His hands curled around the ball of her shoulders. She trembled under his palms. Her body was practically vibrating and Logan tightened his fingers, pushing down into her skin. He could feel her muscles tense and became as if stone and then, after a heartstopping moment, he felt the muscles loosen and her lean back into his body. Her tremor settles slightly, becoming not as bad. To feel her settle back into his warmth, her head resting on his abdomen, her shoulders loosening and falling from the tense position beneath her ears, it made something warm settle in his gut. He looked down at the top of her head, seeing the light tear tracks on her face, her eyes shut and the stress lines still prominent on her forehead. It made him feel like though he done the right thing, he wasn't doing enough for her.

You're doing more than enough, my friend. At the sudden voice of Charles in his head, Logans' hands gripped too hard where his hands were still resting on Marie. He glared at Xavier, yelling some very rude words in his mind. Xavier couldn't help the small smile curling at his mouth; he knew he shouldn't have intruded, but was in such turmoil he was unwittingly projecting enough to comprehend what he was thinking, even with his hard skull making him a difficult read.

Marie, at the sudden hard grip, had looked up at Logan, her head still resting against his stomach. Her wide doe like eyes looked too vulnerable looking up at him, and when he finally moved his gaze down to her after glaring at the Professor, he felt like he got trapped in those green eyes. He couldn't handle it and he practically ripped his eyes away from hers.

Rosco, at their side, still hadn't settled, his hackles were still up and there was still a low rumbling growl coming from him. The Professor was still slightly off to the side and the people in the room were still quieter than usual, most still interested in what was unfolding in front of them. Bobby was almost completely covered in a layer of ice, his head down and hands fisted at his side.

The embarrassment and frustration was turning into anger in Bobbys' mind and Charles quickly turned his attention to the young man.

"Bobby, let's go get you dried," he said pleasantly, already turning his chair to the door. Bobby continued to glare at the dog and the Wolverine, before suddenly turning around. The sharp cracking of the ice around his feet made Rosco drop into a pouncing stance and gnash his teeth. Marie startled and choked on her breath, pressing further into the warmth of Logan at her back, almost hiding behind the bulk of her dog.

Kitty, who till that point, had just watched scared, jumped up and ran to her boyfriend's side as her stormed out the food hall, the Professor and Ororo following behind them.

Logan couldn't look down again, he wasn't ready to face her vulnerable face yet, so he kept a look at the faces around them. Rosco, with the hostile presence mostly gone, had settled against their girls side, basically blocking her from the views. While most were still curious enough to keep their attention on their corner, but some had turned away. As his eyes passed over the X-Men table, he saw the most ugly expression on Jeans' face. Scott was still hostile, but the look of almost pure hatred on Jeans' face brought up his own hackles.

He needed to get her to a safe place. He could still feel her trembling slightly. He needed to get her out.

Leaning down so his face was against her ear, her deadly skin blocked by her hair, he said softly, "Come on, darlin'. Let's get out of her." Feeling her jerky nod, he reached over her shoulder, feeling her duck her head slightly, but not flinching away from his body, like she would with other people. He grabbed the water, 2 apples and a yogurt each and then reached for her gloved hand in her lap. Pulling her up from her chair, keeping her close to his side, his protective instinct in overdrive right then. The emotion he saw in Jeans' face had triggered something inside him and he just needed to protect her.

With Rosco at her other side, Logan made a b-line for the door.