Chapter Three
As she walked into the hall the hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she knew someone was watching her...
Rogue turned slowly. There was a man she didn't recognize in a trench coat. He was good looking and seemed to think she was equally attractive if his gaze was anything to go by. It clicked in her mind who he was. "You must be Remy." She stated with a small smile.
"And who might you be Chere?" He openly leered at her, looking her up and down. He moved closer intending to touch her arm.
Marie instantly flinched away, afraid of her mutation. "I'm Rogue." When he tried again to touch her she moved. "And I have poison skin." She watched his reaction. His eyes widened a bit before returning to normal. 'Well I guess normal isn't the right word.' They were a shade of red she had never seen before.
"Such a pity for such beautiful skin to be untouchable. A pleasurable torment."
Marie blushed. It felt good to have such an attractive man complimenting her and looking at her with obvious lust in his eyes. She was about to say something when Logan came around the corner. She couldn't read his expression, but he seemed tense.
"Hey Kid." He said as he neared them. He looked to Remy and felt the urge to glare but held back. "And you are?"
"Remy LeBeau." He would have offered his hand but had a feeling Logan wouldn't take it. In fact it seemed that Logan was angry at him for flirting with Rogue. He had called Rogue 'Kid', but he had a feeling Logan thought she was anything but.
"Logan." Logan tried his hardest to say it civilly, but he honestly wanted to gut the fucker. Marie wasn't his, but he could see the pink on her cheeks and saw the way he was looking at her.
Marie looked between them and could feel the tension. She was at a loss of what to say. She didn't understand why Logan was so angry right now. He wasn't known for being social, but he rarely was like this when meeting someone he didn't even know. He looked to be on the verge of letting his claws make an appearance. "Well, it was nice to meet you Remy." She looked to Logan. "I'll see you tomorrow." She turned and walked to the stairs. Casting one last look back at the two men as they watched her walk away. As she went outside the mansion she shook her head. She just didn't get men.
.: The Next Day :.
Marie sat next to Jubilee at lunch and saw her making goo goo eyes at Remy. "Hey." As jubilee seemed unable to take her eyes off Remy. "You know you're drooling right?"
Jubilee broke her eye contact and checked to see if she was indeed drooling, Finding nothing she glared at Marie. "Ya could give a girl a complex, besides just love to look at that man candy. Bet he knows how to make a girl happy." She smiled at the last part. "So what do ya think of him now? Isn't he just orgasmic?"
Marie blushed slightly. "He has a certain charm. And like you said the accent doesn't hurt."
Jubilee gave her a confused look. "How can ya hear his accent from over here? Did ya absorb Logan again?"
Marie shook her head. "No, uh, he was outside my room when I went to take my run last night." She didn't mention the looks he was giving her or the way he flirted with her. "Seems nice."
Jubilee snorted. "More like yummy. Bet he could charm a nun out of her habit."
"Jeez Jubes, if you like him so much better make a move before he goes for someone else." She laughed. "I swear you're one minute away from humping his leg."
Jubilee laughed with her. "That's not the body part I want to hump."
Across the room she heard Logan choke on his drink. He had obviously heard what Jubilee had said. Marie laughed and looked back at Jubilee. "You have seriously have no filter, you know that?"
Jubilee smiled and winked. "That's part of my charm. I'm irresistible. Besides, I didn't tell you about the totally hot dream I had about him last night, did I?"
Marie shook her head. "You need help."
Jubilee smirked. "No, I need to get laid." They laughed together.
.: After Classes :.
Marie went to meet Logan and found he wasn't there yet like he usually was. She didn't mind, it gave her a moment to try and figure out why he was so cold towards Remy. She had thought on it while she had taken her run. Part of her hoped it was because Remy was flirting with her, but she dismissed it. Why would Logan care if a guy flirted with her? She had come to the conclusion that he was acting like a protective older brother. She was startled out her thoughts when a hand landed on her shoulder. She looked up to see Remy staring at her.
"What's a pretty girl like you doing sitting her all alone Chere?" Remy smiled charmingly at her.
"Oh, I'm waiting for Logan." Marie could tell he was disappointed. "We always spend time together after classes."
Remy nodded. "Are you two a couple?" He was blunt. As she laughed he realized she had no idea that Logan thought of her as more than a friend.
"Logan and I are friends. I've known him since I was 16." Her smile fell at the thought that was all they'd ever be. Again she was about to speak when Logan showed up.
Logan felt his rage overcome him as he saw Marie with Remy, and in their spot. It only deepened when she laughed. Now he really wanted to gut him. He was jealous as all hell. 'Back off, she's mine.' His inner Wolverine said to him. He practically growled as he approached. "Hey Kid, LeBeau." He said LeBeau with obvious disdain. He took the seat next to Marie.
Marie again was confused. What was up with Logan? The only person he treated like this was usually Scott, and that was only when Jean was alive. She looked at Remy. "I'll see you around." She hoped he would get that she wanted him to leave. Honestly Logan looked ready to attack him and she wanted to avoid that.
Remy took the hint and lifted her gloved hand to his lips. "Until next time Chere."
Marie couldn't help the blush that rose to her cheeks as he walked away. She looked over to Logan to see him glaring at her. "What?" But he just shook his head at her. "Come on Logan, you don't get to glare at me for talking to someone. And why are you so rude to him anyways?"
Logan wanted to tell her, but his pride wouldn't let him. He knew exactly why, but damned if he would admit it, even to her. He just sighed and decided to change the subject. "You ready Kid?" He held out his hand.
Marie knew he was hiding something from her, but she let it go. If Logan hated anything, it was talking about his feelings. That's one of the reasons they got along so well. She never pushed him into spilling his guts. It was a sort of unspoken rule between them. Sometimes she wished she was a telepath, just to know what he was thinking.
.: One Month Later :.
It was official. She was now graduated, she was an adult. Marie was overjoyed when the Professor had asked if any of the graduates wished to stay on, either as a fellow to the teachers and/or a part of the team. A few of them turned down his offer wishing to go to college instead. But Marie decided that staying and fighting for what she believed in was more important to her at this point. And while she was making great improvement with her mutation, thanks to Logan and the Professor, she still couldn't permanently turn it off yet. She could keep it off for about an hour now if she focused, but the off switch still eluded her. Logan had been very patient about the whole thing, allowing her to slowly get control of it. Still she couldn't justify her wardrobe at a college without them knowing immediately that she was a mutant. She thought maybe she'd take a few online courses when she was ready.
Logan seemed relieved when Remy started a relationship with Jubilee. Well, when they started screwing like rabbits as Jubilee put it. Though he still got upset every time Remy flirted with her. Apparently he hadn't worked out that Remy was a natural flirt. She still wondered why he got so angry. He never got angry when she was dating Bobby, so it couldn't be jealousy, right? Maybe it was because Bobby was the boy next door and Remy was a bad boy. She still thought he was trying to be the big brother who didn't think Remy was a good influence. But honestly she didn't know, a part of her hoped he was jealous.
It was a warm evening and Marie decided to stay in her room. She was moved into a room in the teachers wing as she was a fellow now. A room that happened to be next door to Logan's. She couldn't help but be excited that they would be neighbors. On the other side of her room was Jubilee. She wasn't a fellow, but she did sign up to be on the team while taking some online courses when the next term came around.
Marie groaned as she heard Remy and Jubilee going at it again. It was the one draw back from having her friend in the room next door. Jubilee was quite loud. In fact she had nearly been caught with Remy when they decided to go at it after a Danger Room session. Jubilee told her after Marie asked about Jubilee's bloody lip. Apparently she had to bite it in order to keep from crying out. And as they were in the Men's locker-room, Bobby almost walked in on them.
'That's it I've got to get out of here.' Marie walked down to the kitchen. She wasn't all that hungry, but the thought of ice cream was too appealing in this type of weather. As it was around 10 at night she didn't bother with her layers, just a tank top and pajama pants. She didn't turn on the lights as she could navigate the kitchen without them. She was reaching into the freezer... "Hey Kid." She started so hard she yelped.
Marie turned and turned the light on. "Logan, you scared the hell outta me!"
Logan chuckled from where he sat at the island a beer in front of him. He enjoyed the view of her bending over, but thought it best to announce his presence. "Sorry." He looked anything but. "What ya doin' up at this hour?"
Marie pulled the ice cream out and got a bowl, a spoon and a scoop settling in the seat next to his. "Jubilee and Remy were being loud and this here has my name on it. I swear she could raise the dead with her screams." As she started to scoop some Cherry Garcia ice cream into her bowl, he chuckled. "Bad day?" Since she had confronted him about his drinking he usually didn't drink much. Just a beer when he was in the mood.
"You could say that." He didn't tell her he had a nightmare about her. Instead of him being in a tank of green liquid screaming his pain, it had been her instead. He had woken up covered in sweat. He sat up and put his head in his hands. His memories were bad enough, but seeing Marie screaming and being helpless to stop it. It was too much. He took a long cold shower and went to the kitchen grabbing a beer. It didn't help much, but seeing her had.
Marie finished scooping and looked at Logan. "Want some?" She smiled as he grabbed her spoon and took a bite of hers instead of getting his own bowl. She got up and rinsed the scoop then put the ice cream back in the freezer. She sat back down and picked up her spoon where he left it in her bowl and took a bite.
"Nice pants." Logan smirked.
Marie looked down and blushed. Her pajama pants had been a Christmas gift from Jubilee. They had Naughty But Nice written all over them. It wasn't the right season for Christmas, being July. "They're comfortable." She shrugged trying to play off her embarrassment.
Logan still smirked. "An improvement to your kitten pants." He teased. One night he saw her with pajama pants with kittens all over them. He called her Kitten for a week afterwards and she blushed every time. He always thought it was adorable when she blushed. As long as he was the one to make her blush.
"You're never going to let that go are you?" Marie rolled her eyes.
"Nope." He took a drink of his beer. "Kitten." He added. "Maybe I should call you naughty now."
Marie swatted his arm. "Don't you dare." She crossed her arms making her cleavage raise. This time she was sure he looked at her breasts.
Logan made his eyes raise to her face. 'Damn she's got nice breasts.' He was sure she had seen him look too as she was slightly pink in the cheeks and uncrossed her arms. He finished his beer and stood. "Gotta get up early tomorrow. Don't stay up too late Kid." He put his bottle in the recycle bin and left.
Marie shook her head and ate her ice cream before it turned into a puddle. She couldn't help but think 'I just don't get men.'
After finishing her ice cream and going for a stroll in the garden she made her way back to her room and before she reached her door she heard groaning. 'God, do they ever quit? Maybe I should invest in soundproofing for Jubilee's room.' She was about to go into her room when she realized it wasn't coming from Jubilee's room, but from Logan's. She also realized they weren't groans made from pleasure but something far more dark. She walked to Logan's door and opened it a crack. He was thrashing about on his bed with the sheet all twisted around his waist. She made her way inside, sat on the edge of the bed, and carefully tried to wake him. She didn't want a repeat of the incident when they first got here. She was surprised when he sat straight up into her and wrapped his arms around her. She made sure to hold her mutation off as he held her tight. She felt him sniff her hair and tighten his hold on her. Her heart leapt at the feeling of him holding onto her as if his life depended on it.
Logan had had the dream again. She was screaming, only this time he was the one who was hurting her. He suddenly was awake and holding onto something. he realized it was Marie. He held on tight, like somehow holding real Marie would erase his dream. He sniffed her hair needing to know she was here and that she was alright.
"It's alright Sugar." She tried to soothe him as she wrapped her arms around him. "It was just a nightmare." She rubbed his back with her hands. It was the first time she had touched any other skin besides his hands. Despite his hands being rough his back was smooth and warm.
Logan knew he should let go, but right now he needed the comfort she offered. It felt good to have her pressed against him. It felt right. When he did pull back a little to look her in the eyes...
AN: Another cliffhanger. Mua-ha-ha, never said I wasn't evil.