Logan stared at the Rogue that was not Rogue, but Carol. A grown woman, an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. A woman stronger than any known X-Gene haver. She was present, but they were still powerless in a dungeon. And, Logan was hurt. "Anything necessary?" He repeated, his eyes locked on the girl. Her mannerisms were so strange, unlike Rogue's. Precise. Militaristic. He didn't like or agree with Carol using her body.
"My real body is in a hospital bed. I don't care what you do, as long as we get out of here..." Logan's eyes were anchored on the guards. With that, Rogue dropped quickly to the ground. Playing possum.
"H-Hey..." He called out unsurely. "I said hey, somethin's wrong with her!" He cried, banging on the bars to get their attention. The predator ambled over, his eyes fixated on Rogue's covered body. Logan felt something animalistic snap inside him, again.
"She need a dickin', yet?" Logan felt something else break, something that could no longer promise his safety if he got out. When he got out.
"It's her powers," Logan snarled dangerously. "They're different, that collar. It's killin' her! You know how valuable she is? How much dog shit you'll be in if you let her die before they get live tissue samples?" The smirk slid off the mustached guards face. Whether he knew it or not, he was right. She was a type A priority mutant due to her abilities. Groaning, he approached the cage.
"Whadd'ya propose I do? Can't jus' give her powers back." He sneered into the cage, a key hovering in front of the lock.
"Get a doctor to look at her, then." He looked into the feral man's eyes before unlocking the cage. If she was out, she couldn't protest his fondling. And, he did want to investigate her body further.
"Brando, go take another fif-" Ryland was screaming as Logan descended on him, his eyes black. All it took was one head butt with his adamantium skull. The guard was stunned, staring into the eyes of evil as the girl mutant sat up, watching. Staring impassively as Logan ravaged him. Without his claws available to do the trick, Logan lunged like a panther and grabbed a hold of the man's neck with his teeth.
In one, quick motion he tore out Ryland's throat and jugular. He was left hissing and gurgling as he sunk to the floor. Brando only watched, struck still by the sudden burst of violence. Not-Rogue watched in silence, some blood splattering on her face "Him. He can get these off." Logan looked up, his face washed red like the blood was a mask. The man had clearly detested Ryland.
"Be a good guy, Brando. Not like him." Logan spoke lowly, carefully. Brando looked around, at the spreading pool of blood, at them. He tossed an electronic key toward them before slowly backing away. Rogue held the fab to the collar around Logan's neck and it released him. With a pained grunt, his numerous wounds began to slowly heal. "Fuck. Finally." He turned toward Rogue who was standing with a stance he'd never seen before.
"Let's go."
Logan awoke with a jerk and a low growl vibrating in his throat. He was sitting in the armchair of his room, Rogue was sprawled on his bed under the covers. He sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. If he did manage to sleep, he was plagued with nightmares. Nightmares of what he saw happen to Rogue and failed to prevent, nightmares that it happened again. That he lost her, the list went on.
But, this dream in particular had revealed something. He had killed, even with his mutation and powers stripped from him. It'd been his first course of action. He didn't regret it, but he was disturbed by his own repression of it. It was proof he was still the same kind of animal, same experiment he'd always been. That Charles had tried and failed to rehabilitate. He sighed.
The longer he was there, the less he felt he belonged at the school. He jumped out of reflex when he heard a knock at the door. Of course, it was Jean. She probably felt the nightmare minutes ago. He stared at her wearily, embarrassed and exhausted. "I wake you?" He grunted, scratching the back of his head. She smiled at him tiredly. He tried not to let his stare linger at her baby pink nightgown, getting shorter by the year.
"I can have insomnia, too." She peered at Rogue, fast asleep in his bed. "Everything alright?" Silence. The telepath chewed her lip.
"I killed-" The statement is unfinished, forced. Angry tears are welling behind his eyes, but not because he killed him. Because of what he did to Rogue. He clutched his fist, tight. "The guy who did that to her. First thing I did." He admitted, half expecting the psychic to recoil in shame or fear. She doesn't flinch, knowing in some ways, she and Logan were a lot a like.
"Nobody blames you." She answered evenly. 'Some of us are glad, glad you did. Already knew-'
"X-Men don't kill." More silence. She knew it went against everything, but nobody would be chasing after Logan about it anytime soon. He'd always promised to kill for and to protect the kids. They could hardly say that didn't count. Still, the man had wanted to believe he wasn't capable of such savagery anymore, that the kids had made him soft. She empathized with that, even though he'd do it again.
"She's gonna be alright," She responded, her hand on the doorframe. "We all will."
The next morning started like any other. Logan and Rogue woke and they went outside to walk the grounds. It kept her calm and centered, not restless. That's when he smelled it. Sabretooth was coming in fast, and he knew what for. He plucked Rogue out of the grass with ease, shuffling her towards the mansion despite her protests.
'Logan, I sense-' Charles began.
'Sabretooth. He's approaching. I'm gettin' Rogue to safety, then I'll handle it-'
'Be careful.' Charles' head voice was stern. These moments were few and far between, but he did not want a war on his campus. When Logan spied Scott he transferred the girl to him, quickly. "Danger Room," He growled, the X-Men's leader nodding firmly. Sabretooth was Logan's territory, he didn't want any of them getting involved in his decades long affair. They all know he was just looking for a way to get under his skin.
"Got it, I'll take her." He tugged her gently and Rogue went along before casting one last look at Logan. He doubled back and tore back to the lawn, Creed's figure approaching on the horizon. He claws shot out, itching to collide with his skin. When he seemed to smell him as well he broke into a gallop, racing to meet with his claws.
"Wovlerine," He growled, slamming into the man at full force. His metal pierced Sabretooth's shoulder but that didn't stop him from slashing viciously at Logan's face. He didn't waste time for words as he kept slashing at the other feral mutant, his eyes blind with rage that he would even think of trying to attack a vulnerable Rogue. Even mutants like him had a code, and he'd crossed a line. He was truly irredeemable.
"Bastard." He hissed, trying to find a way to finally kill him. That's when Scott ran out into the garden, a leather jacket flapping behind him. Logan watched in silent fury as he ran forward and fired an optic blast at Creed, sending him flying. "SLIM. Didn't I tell you to get Rogue to the Danger Room?! I got Creed." The resounding look of confusion, then fear on Scott's face made his blood ice cold.
"R-Rogue? You... What?" Logan thought his heart might explode. Mystique had infiltrated the institute. They couldn't even pin point when. And now, Rogue was in her hands.
"No..." He growled, Sabretooth slamming to the ground suddenly.
'Logan! The presence of Kurt and Rogue's mother has-'
'I know, okay. I gave Rogue right to her.'
'Sabretooth is subdued, Hank is on the way. Please, don't let her out of our sight.' Logan didn't bother with a response, his feet kicking up dirt and grass as he ran. He hoped Kurt wasn't nearby, he wasn't exactly sure what he might do to Mystique if he got his hands on her. Her interference could solidify Rogue staying the way she was. Just the thought made him blind with rage.
Rogue's scent stopped in an elevator. Ridden to the hangar, which was left open. Someone had been waiting, probably Destiny. "God, DAMN it." Logan shouted so loud he felt walls shake.
'We have Creed, Logan. We'll use that-'
'Don't nobody want Sabretooth, Chuck. Especially not Mystique. She got her, Charles. What are we going to do?'
'She will not harm her.'
'Not intentionally.'
'Come to my-'
'I'm on my way. And keep Sabretooth out of my sight.'