While Logan showered, I brushed my teeth and then tried to do something with my hair. No matter what I did though, I couldn't recreate the bun-thing Jackie had done for me. I considered checking to see if she was still in our room, but it was a little early in the morning to try to deal with her craziness. Logan stepped out of the shower, and I blatantly checked him out while he dressed again. I never did manage to convince him that he couldn't wear clothes that he had just worn the day before. Maybe it was a Logan thing, but I suspected that wearing the same pair of jeans for an entire week and determing if a shirt was "clean" or not by smell was a man thing. He kept his back to me and pulled on his jeans way too quickly for my liking, but I didn't say anything about it.

I would choose my battles wisely.

He shaved, and I gave up on trying to force my hair into silky smooth submission. I sat on the toilet and watched him shave, since it still sort of amazed me that men could grow hair on their faces. The repetitive motions of him shaving were somehow calming and reassuring to watch, and I think he liked it too. I waited until he finished, then bounded over for a quick kiss. I might be willing to compromise, but I really liked kissing him, so I vowed to get as many kisses in private as I could. We walked out of the bathroom, and saw Jackie was still waiting for us.

"I don't know where the food is served." She said in answer to our surprised expressions.

Logan grunted and rooted through his duffel, picking out a shirt and sniffing it. On the bright side of living here, I assumed there would be a place to do laundry, and we could buy more than a week's worth of clothing since we didn't have to travel. Jackie and I waited while Logan pulled his shirt on, then we followed him out the door. He led since he actually knew where he was going, but no one spoke. While I appreciated Jackie not mouthing off and provoking him, the silence was pretty awkward.

"Where are we going?" I finally asked.

"The staff kitchen. The student cafeteria is down there, but the staff kitchen has better food and less people." Logan answered, jerking his head at a hallway as we passed.

He stopped in front of a door and opened it for me, and I crept into the room. Logan acted like it was fine for us to be in here, but it felt a lot like sneaking into the teacher's lounge to me. But no one else was there, and Logan strode right in. Jackie didn't waste any time in heading for the fridge either. Logan got a box of Bisquick out of the pantry and offered it to me, his eyes silently pleading for pancakes.

I rolled my eyes good-naturedly and took the box from him. He grinned at me and shot me a wink, then rooted through the freezer.

"I'm making oatmeal." Jackie announced. "Either of you want some?"

"No!" Logan shouted.

We both looked over at him in shock, and even he seemed a little confused at how intense his reaction had been. Jackie held up her hands in mock surrender and took a step back. Logan cleared his throat, shook his head, and pulled out a package of frozen bacon. I shook my head at her, and she began humming as she went back to rooting through the pantry.

"What are you making, woman?"

I jumped half a foot and spilled pancake batter on the grill, making a strange splatter-shaped pancake. I whirled around, but Victor wasn't even speaking to me. He leaned on the countertop next to Jackie instead, standing there like it was perfectly normal for him to appear out of thin air. Talk about creeping around like cat. He was far too big to move so ninja-quiet like that, but I hadn't heard him come in at all.

"Hate it when he does that." Logan muttered.

"Oatmeal." Jackie answered her crazy feral-boyfriend. "I'm making it from scratch. Do you want some?"

"Yes." He said softly.

Oatmeal means she loves us.

Um...okay...? I said back uncertainly, but Sabretooth had already faded away.

After that, we all cooked in silence, although Logan and Victor had a brief territory spat when Victor tried to cook eggs on a nearby burner while Logan cooked his bacon. He heaped up a pile of bacon and a plate and still cooked more while I did the same with pancakes, trying to stack up a portion large enough to keep him occupied in one sitting so I could eat two pancakes of my own.

"Sooo...did you two do the do last night?" Jackie asked. "Touch butts? Frick the frack? For six days and seven nights was Jimmy aroused and flowed into Marie."

"Does that make me Gilgamesh?" Victor asked.

"What the fuck are you two even talking about?!" Logan demanded. "And it ain't none of your goddamn business!"

Jackie ignored him and looked at me. "Did you come or has his family name been shamed?"

All eyes turned on me, and I blushed. "Uh...did you hear me scream?"

"I was having my first good night's sleep in six years, so I must have missed it. That good, huh?" She seemed genuinely surprised, and I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Yes."

"She let him go down on her." Victor said, his subliminal hint hint not subtle at all.

"And I'm sure you'd be equally good at it, but I haven't slept from ten to ten in...my entire life probably. So I am greatly satisfied with what I got last night." Jackie said.

"Faaantastic." Logan sneered. "Can we shut up and eat now?"

"Here's yeh pancakes, sugah." I said before his mood could get any worse.

He pulled me close and placed a possessive kiss on the side of my forehead, but I tugged his face down for a real kiss. I could try to control my hormones in front of other people, but Jackie and Victor were family, so they didn't count.

"Thanks, darlin'." He murmured after the kiss.

He took the plates of pancakes and bacon to the table, and I grabbed some maple syrup out of the cabinet. I sat down next to Logan while Victor and Jackie stayed standing, having their own quiet conversation. I stole two pancakes and two pieces of bacon off Logan's plates and drenched both with maple syrup.

"Are you going to be a teacher here?" I asked.

Logan shook his head. "Duhn wanna. Aw'll—"

"Don't speak with your mouth full, James." Jackie scolded.

He flipped her off, but swallowed his bite of food before he spoke again. "Join the X-Men. Do some work for Chuck like that."

Jackie sat down with her oatmeal, placing Victor's bowl at the spot next to her. She reached for my syrup and poured it over her oatmeal, stirring it right in. We watched in horror as she ate it with a fork, it was so thick. No wonder Logan reacted so strongly. I pictured a sullen Child-Logan being forced to eat that awful oatmeal every morning with a half-asleep Child-Victor sitting next to him.

"Could I have some milk, please?" I asked Victor.

Victor nodded and came back with milk and orange juice, two glasses of each held in both of his huge hands. He gave the orange to Logan and Jackie, one glass of milk to me, and kept the other glass of milk for himself. I'd already started to think of Victor and Jackie as family, but now that we were all having breakfast together, it really felt like we were.

"Do you have any friends here?" I asked Logan.

"Hank's alright." Logan ate a bite, chewed, and swallowed. "Storm's fine."

Jackie took a drink of orange juice and spluttered. "Oh god, what is this?!"

"There something in yeh orange juice?" I asked.

"No, there isn't any vodka in this orange juice at all! This is..." She took another sip and made a face. "Regular, non-alcoholic orange juice."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "It's ten am."

"And I'm an alcoholic. That's how this works." She retorted. "Victor can—"

"No." Victor interrupted, setting a plate filled with eggs, bacon, and toast in front of her. "Here."

"So Jackie..." I began. "Do yah think yah'll use the desk in our room much?"

"If you want it, have it." She said, still looking dazed from Victor's gift of food.

"Thanks. Ah didn't see a chair for it though."

"Well if you need a place to sit, you can always grab Logan's face." She said.

Logan choked on his pancakes so hard, his face turned red. Jackie watched him try to catch his breath and swallow his bite of pancakes with a disgusted look.

"Or not."

Logan finally got his breath back and growled at her. Jackie didn't seem to care.

"What? Someone had to make a dirty joke about it." She said with a shrug.

"Victor managed not to." I pointed out.

Although, that might be because of how badly he obviously wanted to go down on Jackie. Or, being the oldest of us all, he was the most mature. Or he just didn't care. I might have his feral alter-ego in my head, but Victor was still a tough man to read.

"Well maybe I'm not as nice as Victor." Jackie replied.

Victor tapped the edge of her plate with a claw. "Food."

I followed his lead and rubbed Logan's back. "Yah too, sugah. Ah'll make yah some more pancakes."

He continued his glaring contest with Jackie for a moment, then grunted and nodded. I got up and took my plate with me so I could finish my pancake while I made more. Everyone ate quietly after that, although Victor did get up to make Jackie seconds. Eventually, we both sat down next to our mates and watched them eat. Victor only had the bowl of oatmeal Jackie made for him, so I assumed he either woke up really early and already ate or it just made him lose his appetite completely.

When Logan and Jackie finally finished eating and sat back, I breathed a sigh of relief. The quiet had been fine when I was making pancakes, but it was super awkward silently sitting across from Victor while we watched Logan and Jackie eat. I sidled up next to Logan, and he casually slung his arm around my shoulders.

"So what are we doing after our talk with the professor?" I asked.

Logan shrugged. "I'll give you a tour if you want. You might see some of the kids. Maybe they'll have those monster balls you like."

Victor and Jackie stopped their quiet conversation and stared at him. I looked up at him too, trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about.

"Um, what?"

"Those monster things you have in the little red and white balls." Logan said.

"Pokemon! He means Pokemon!" I assured Victor and Jackie.

"Sure." Jackie grinned, lifted her eyebrows twice, and pressed her tongue into her cheek a couple of times.

"We're hunting tonight, Jimmy." Victor said, drawing attention away from her crudeness.

Logan nodded. "I remember. We'll talk later."

Victor gave him a curt nod back and stood up. Our family breakfast was apparently over, and the rest of us stood up as well. We all helped clear the table, and I was glad the work didn't fall just on me.

"C'mon, it's about time for your appointment with Chuck." Logan said, pulling me away from the dishes.

I assumed someone else would wash them, but I felt a little bad about leaving them unclean. Logan led me out of the staff kitchen with Victor and Jackie chatting behind us. I ignored them and walked as close to Logan as I could, since he didn't have his arm around me. It didn't feel right.

"When you get your schedule figured out with Chuck, I'll show you where all your classes are, and the library, and stuff." Logan told me.

"Will yah be gone much?" I asked him.

"I'll try not to be. Most missions are only for a day or so." He said, brushing his hand over my back.

I pressed a little closer. "Are they dangerous?"

"Don't worry about that." He said firmly. "I know what I'm doing, and I can heal from anything."

"Got metal bones too. Real convenient, being unbreakable, huh Jimmy?" Victor said.

Logan glared back at him. "Don't try to ask like you did me a fucking favor, asshole."

Victor's eyes narrowed too. "Because it was so much better for you when your claws were made of bone. You just loved it when they snapped off inside of people."

Logan turned back around and clenched his jaw.

"You remember that one time you got hit by a cannonball, Jimmy?" Victor continued. "Out for a fucking week. Your healing factor couldn't keep up, so it shut down. That's what happens when you get your chest crushed. Won't happen now though, will it?"

"I don't wanna fucking here it." Logan snarled, still glaring straight ahead.

"Does that mean you'll forget we ever had this conversation too?" Victor asked.

Logan popped his claws and whirled around, but I pressed in between them.

"Not here." I pleaded with him. "Yah don't want to go crashing into a classroom full of kids, do yah?"

They kept glaring at each other, until Victor finally spoke again.

"I guess we do need to have a talk later." He casually broke eye contact with Logan and turned to Jackie. "I can give you a tour while they're having their talk with Charles."

The near fight hadn't bothered Jackie, and she shrugged, just as casual as him. "Sure."

I stayed pressed up against Logan while they walked off, until they rounded a corner, out of sight. He relaxed a little then, but I could tell he was still pissed. Victor and Jackie both had a way of pissing off everyone around them like that. No wonder they were soul mates; they were the only ones who could stand each other.

"Yah know he only pisses yah off jus' for the fun of it." I told Logan softly.

He growled a little in response and finally put his arm around me. We walked down the hall, and I was just starting to enjoy snuggling up to his side when he abruptly dropped his arm and stepped away. A moment later, Scott came around the corner. He shoved a stack of papers into Logan's hands, who looked like he was one second away from dropping them all on the floor.

"These are all the forms you'll need to fi—"

"I didn't have to fill out any fucking forms the last—"

"Watch your language in front of the child."

Again I stepped in the middle of a fight. "Ah am not a child. Ah'm sixteen and working on getting emancipated."

Scott gave me a look like he thought it was just adorable that I thought I was a real person. "Professor Xavier can see you while Wolverine fills out his paperwork, Marie."

"Ah would prefer it if yah would call meh Rogue." I said coolly.

"While we do accept mutant names, it may be best if you—"

"She said she wants to be called Rogue." Logan growled.

"There you are." Storm said, coming up behind Scott. "Good morning. I can show you to the professor's office now, if you're ready."

Logan gently pushed on my lower back. "Go on with Storm, darling. I'll get this shit figured out."

Scott pulled a face at Logan's continued profanity, and Storm's composure flickered for a moment too. I squeezed Logan's hand in silent support.

"Will Ah see yah when Ah'm done?" I asked.

He squeezed my hand back. "'Course."

I gave him a smile for good luck dealing with Scott, which I thought he would need, and followed Storm.

"What all does the professor want to talk to meh about?" I asked her as we walked.

"What grade you need to be placed in, how much contact you want with your family, and your relationship with Logan." Storm answered.

Her voice stayed calm and her walk never faltered, but I could tell this was going to be a Very Serious Conversation.

"Did I hear you say you wanted to emancipated?" Storm asked me.

She must have really good hearing to have caught that. I'd seen her use winds to lift up Victor though, and rumors were always said to travel on the wind. I wondered if she could use gusts of air to hear things and spy on people.

"Yes. Logan made an appointment for meh to meet with a lawyer before all this happened." I said.

"If that's what you want, we may be able to help. We try to support our students as much as possible, particularly those with distant or no family."

"Thank yah."

Storm stopped in front of a set of doors and gave me a kind smile. "If you have any problems, with your mutation or with personal relationships, please feel comfortable telling any one of us. Our students' welfare is our highest priority."

Our relationship's none of yer fuckin' business. Figured ya'd know that, bein' Hank's mate.

I smiled just as coolly at her as I did at Scott. "Ah'll keep that in mind."

Heh. Only thing you want in your mind is us.

And we're happy t'be in ya any time ya want, kitling.

Don't make meh laugh right now. An' Ah'm about to see a telepath, so hush up and be good guard...wolf-men.

The door clicked open on its own, a clear invitation for me to walk in. I decided I couldn't really fault Professor Xavier for opening the door like that—even if it was creepy—since he couldn't exactly get up and open the door for me himself.

Chuck only wants to help, but he helps himself and his school first.

He does what's best fer his whole pack, and damn the individuals.

With those last warnings, my boys faded to the back of my mind, and I walked inside the office. Storm's constant use of "we" and her almost unnatural calm felt pretty creepy too, even if Logan did give her the high praise of being "fine." The door shut behind me, and I stepped closer to the professor's desk.

"I assure you, we are not a cult." Professor Xavier said, picking up on my worry.

"Honestly," I licked my dry lips. "Reading mah mind doesn't make all this any less creepy."

"My apologies. Please, sit down." He waiting until I sat in one of the overly plush chairs in front of his desk before he continued. "I can teach you how to put up mental shields if you wish."

"Won't yah need to get inside mah mind to do that?"

He smiled. "If we are still being frank, I will need to do that anyway in order to help you control the voices you hear."

"They're in mah head. Ah get a person's voice along with their...energy...if Ah touch them." I explained.

I did not just hear voices.

"You are projecting quite loudly, my dear. And I apologize if I made it seem if you did. As a telepath, I am accustomed to hearing unwanted voices and the stigma that goes with it." He said.

"Ah already put the voices Ah get into rooms so they stay locked up." I told him.

He leaned forward and steepled his hands over the desk. "Have you managed to silence them on your own?"

"Most of them. Some are stronger than others." I muttered.

I didn't want to admit that I had deliberately kept Logan and Wolverine in the forefront of my mind, much less that I regularly talked to and relied on them. But the gleam in Professor Xavier's eyes told me he wasn't going to let it go.

"Which ones are the strongest?"

I chewed on my lip for a moment, then decided there was no point in lying to a telepath. "Logan, Wolverine, Sabretooth, and Jackie."

"I see. And are these the only mutants that you have touched?" He asked.

I hadn't thought of it that way. I figured those voices were the strongest either because I knew them personally or because they knew each other and interacted with one another. None of the other voices really spoke to each other the way those four did. But I hadn't considered that it had anything to do with them being mutants.

"As far as Ah know. Is Jackie a mutant?"

"Dr. McCoy is still running the blood tests, but I suspect so." He sat back in his chair and considered me. "You are aware we will have to discuss your relationship with Wolverine?"

"His name is Logan." I gritted out. "And Ah really don't see how our relationship is any of yeh business."

"I only want what is best for my stu—"

"Logan is mah mate, and Ah'm his." I insisted.

"Yes, Sabretooth did say as much." Professor Xavier mused. "In fact, he vouched both for your relationship and...Mr. Howlett's intentions."

The silent observation that Victor vouching for something hardly lent it credibility hung in the air between us.

"Logan and Ah have agreed to act appropriately in public and keep our relationship a secret." I said stiffly.

"Yes, but what you do in private is still illegal." He pointed out.

"Only in this state and only for another year."

He sighed. "My dear girl, I'm afraid your emotions are blinding you to the logic of the matter. Keeping your relationship a secret will likely be hard on you, and Logan isn't exactly discreet himself...especially around women."

I knew what he was implying, and I wasn't his dear girl.

"I trust him." When he gave me a look that bordered on pity, I straightened my spine. "And not because I love him. I trust Logan because I have him in my head. Because I've lived with him for over two years. And because he is a good man."

Professor Xavier and I stared at each other for a long minute before he finally tipped his head in acquiescence.

"Here is the deal I am offering: you and Mr. Howlett will refrain from engaging in sex until you are of age, seventeen in this state. Your relationship will be kept entirely private until then, as well as any physical intimacy."

"And once Ah turn seventeen, our relationship can be made public while we stay here, no matter how scandalous it may seem." I added.

He nodded once more. "Yes, but not a day before. With the amount of public scrutiny a school for mutants is under, I simply cannot allow any illegal activities to occur. So I trust you will both be very discreet until that point."

"Ah understand mah actions reflect on both yah and on Logan. And Ah know that as a mutant, things would be very difficult for him if he were..." I paused and swallowed hard. "...prosecuted."

"I'm glad you have such a mature view of the situation." Professor Xavier murmured. "And now perhaps we can move onto a less sensitive subject, such as your education?"

I relaxed back into my chair. "Ah was a grade ahead in mah schooling, and Ah finished mah freshman year before mah parents kicked meh out."

"Excellent. Then you will not be too far behind in the sophomore class." The professor said, shuffling some papers.

"Actually, Logan paid for meh to continue taking classes online. Ah'm currently finishing up my junior year." I said.

Professor Xavier looked up and considered. "I would have to see a transcript from the online school you attended, and you would have to take several standardized tests here. If you prove to be at a junior level however, I would place you in that class, and you could begin your schooling here in the spring semester."

"Are y'all on winter break yet?" I asked.

"Not quite yet, but very soon. The two months or so before spring semester should give you time to study up." He said, handing me a set of papers.

"What are these?"

"A map of the school, the available classes being taught in the spring, a list of job openings here at the school, the junior class roster, and a list of the standardized tests you will take, with the recommended study guides." He answered.

I gulped again and tried to focus on only one thing. "Jobs?"

"I prefer to hire within the school, both for camaraderie and security reasons. Giving jobs to students also gives them a sense of responsibility, some spending money, and a job history."

Keeps 'em close too.

"Storm also mentioned to me that you wished to be emancipated?" Professor Xavier continued.

Okay, maybe keeping a secret in a school of telepaths and mutants would be harder than I thought.

"Yes. Mah parents kicked meh out, and Ah don't want them to have any legal claim on meh." I said.

"Part of the emancipation process is that you must show to the court that you have a place to live and a job. I can assist you in the rest of the process as well." He offered.

"Ah would prefer to have it done as soon as possible."

"Of course. Do you have any other questions for me?" He asked.

I probably did have a lot of questions, but right now it was information overload. And if I did have any questions, I'd rather ask Logan or maybe Storm. I shook my head quietly, and he nodded graciously.

"It was a pleasure speaking to you, Rogue. My talk with Mr. Howlett should not take us much longer than ours did, and Mr. Sumners is waiting outside to assist you with your papers. Mrs. McCoy should be finished giving Jacqueline and Sabretooth their tour soon, if you wish to speak with her."

I stood. "Thank yah for all yeh help."

Both boys snorted in my head as I left, and the door swung open again before I could grab the handle. I wondered if anyone had ever been smacked in the face like that and quickly hurried into the hallway before the professor could hear that thought. Victor stood nearby, and Logan and Jackie sat in the chairs in the small waiting area outside the office—the principle's office now that I thought about—and he set his papers aside and stood up when he saw me. I tossed my papers next to his and hugged him, propriety be damned.

"You alright, baby girl?" Logan murmured in my ear.

I nodded against his chest. "Ah'm okay, it's jus' a lot of..."

My eyes flicked over to his stack of paperwork, which was even larger than mine. He turned his head and followed my gaze, a low growl rumbling in his chest.

"Place turned into a fucking bureaucracy while I was gone." He grumbled, then looked at the doors. "Yeah, yeah. I'm coming. You gonna be alright, darling?"

Scott cleared his throat loudly beside us. "I can help Rogue with her paperwork and any questions she may have.

He glared at Logan until we separated, and Logan opened his mouth to make a retort, but was interrupted by an unheard voice again. He snorted a puff of air out his nose instead like he'd smelled something offense, turned on his heel, and stalked into Professor Xavier's office. I took a seat in Logan's chair to start on my stack of papers, enjoying his left over warmth.

Was that weird?

Nah.


A/N: Sooooooo, not to be a nag, but so far I haven't gotten any smut-request reviews. I have ideas myself, so for now I'm just going to proceed as planned, but I'll seriously try to work in as many (if I get any) suggestions as I can!

Also, Who'sObsessed left a very insightful review about Logan's character development so far, mainly that he's been acting a LOT more whipped than he should be. After reading back over some chapters, I realized they were right. But I can't just "man him up" all of a sudden, so my brilliant idea was to have him act worse and worse until Marie finally confronts him about it. Cons: Dealing with "man-puppy Logan" instead of "sexy growly in-charge" Logan for one more chapter. Pros: Logan finally accepts Marie as an equal partner, not someone who needs to be constantly looked after and coddled. And semi-angry apology sex. Who'sObsessed agreed the semi-angry apology sex would be a definite benefit!

And after the next two chapters (or even next one and half), I'm going to try to go back to the skipping ahead to major things instead of this day-by-day thing. Same deal as the way it was before the X-Men, I'll put the month at the top of the chapter, although the first few might be week-by-week, before I work up to month-by-month again.

Coming up next: Wolverine explains about The Family, Hank announces the results of the blood tests, and Marie and Logan have a discussion-fight, which means there has to be make-up sex afterwards, right? RIGHT? It's law.


"Don't use that tone with me, kid." Logan growled.

I realized that's what this was about. What this entire week had been about. Maybe even farther back. It was like he always did what I asked and looked out for me, which sounded great, and actually kind of was. And that was probably why it took me so long to notice how far it had gone. He wasn't just my man-puppy in my head, or in private, or occasionally. He was some sort of weird version of personal attendant and chaperone, giving me everything I wanted and making sure the real world never touched me. Which suddenly felt very patronizing.

Even worse, and definitely accounting for my own somewhat-frazzled temper, the promised alone time to do "other stuff" had never been forthcoming. In fact, there had been absolutely no cumming at all.

And that was a Big Problem.