Romana closes Jean's door with a sigh and a lowering of her head.
-This gives me more questions than answers...Goddess, just let me figure
this out without losing Kurt- Romana raises her head and turns around, only
to have her shoulders pushed against the door by a rather irritated
mountain-man.
"Where's Jean?" Logan snarls menacingly as he brings his face close to Romana's.
"Logan...what's going on?" Romana stammers, her eyes wide.
"Something happened to Jeannie, and I want to know what...right..."he raises his closed fist to Romana's eye level.
"Logan! What do you think you are doing?" Jean exclaims as she opens her door and Romana falls on her rear in shock.
"Jean! Are you okay? I thought something happened to you!" Logan asks hurriedly as he steps over Romana to clasp Jean's arms.
"I'm fine, Logan. It's just a stupid bump on the head that was solely my fault. She wanted me to help her with some repressed memories, and I got myself a mental jolt for being careless. You above all others should know how difficult repressed memories can be, Logan!" Jean says in exasperation as she rubs her temple. "Now if you don't mind, I need to go get some Excedrin." Jean stares at Logan pointedly with her arms crossed.
"Oh...right," Logan says in embarrassment and relief as he steps aside and extends a hand to Romana to help her up.
Romana brushes herself off and can't help but notice the way Logan's eyes follow Jean down the hall. "It's tough, isn't it?" she asks as she leans against the doorjamb.
"What is?" Logan asks gruffly, turning his head slightly but still keeping an eye on Jean till she disappears around the corner.
"Living so long without love.especially when it belongs to someone else." Romana says quietly as she crosses her arms over her chest.
"WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT IT?" Logan yells as he spins around with a snikt and plants his claws an inch from Romana's eyes.
"Plenty," Romana says casually as she places a finger to the side of one of his claws and pushes them gently to the side, "that is, if you ever wanted to talk. I have the feeling that we have more in common than you realize, Logan, and I would like us to be friends."
"Friends, huh?" Logan laughs wickedly as he withdraws his claws and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. "Not until I see how you stand up in a fight."
--
They get off the elevator and Logan strides purposefully down the hall till they get to the large metal doors of the Danger Room. "Computer.Logan Dojo.level 1.safety parameters on." Logan commands into the small speaker as he presses a combination of buttons on the control panel in the wall. A green light flashes, and the hall echoes with the thumping of servos as the door opens. "After you," he says almost mockingly as Romana steps into another world.
"Beautiful." Romana whispers as she steps into the ancient Japanese dojo and gazes in amazement. The walls are a cream rice paper with dark cherry wood slats bordering each piece and running across the middle at waist level. Every five panels have a scroll hanging down the wall with Japanese calligraphy written on it. Along the opposite ends of the dojo are racks of various martial arts weapons, from katanas to naginatas. The floor is an off-white canvas covered with woven reed mats, and the ceiling arches upward into various rafters and darkness. As Romana walks to a window, she breathes in the delicate scent of cherry blossoms on the wind. -I may not know the Japanese, but I can tell the home of a warrior when I see one. Just how long have you been alive, Logan?-
"So what did it mean by 'safety parameters on'?" Romana asks as she runs her fingers along the pommels of the weapons in the racks, the sunlight gleaming of their deadly blades.
Logan laughs as a panel opens up in the wall with six narrow slots just the right size for his claws. "It's not like I am worried about hurting you or anything, or you me for that matter." with a smooth sliding sound of metal on metal, Logan releases his claws and inserts them into the slots. When he removes them, he holds his claws up for Romana to see the semi-transparent film coating them. "I just found that I take my claws for granted sometimes, and it's good training for me to handicap myself. Besides.it would be over too quickly if I didn't," he smiles cockily as he assumes a resting stance. "If you want me to be your friend, I have to know what to expect from you, how you will react in a fight. What you can say to me don't mean crap till I see what happens when your basic instincts kick in. Whenever you're ready."
"Fereste-mã, Doamne, de prieteni, cã de dusmani mã feresc eu," Romana says as her search ends on two double-ended knives. She grasps them and turns to assume her ready stance. "Goddess defend me from my friends." she spins the deadly blades in her hands and assumes a defensive stance, one knife arched above her head, the other held in front of her face, "from my enemies I can defend myself."
Romana can't help but remember her Uncle Megosh teaching her lessons in Baratero, the knife-fighting style of the gypsies, long ago as she holds the deadly blades before her.
"Now remember, nanochka, the best way to figure out your opponent is
to let him attack first. Draw him out to show his purpose, and you
will have already won. As you stay calm, he will anger. As you dodge,
he will strike wilder."
"But isn't that dangerous, uncle?"
"It is the man who speaks little and attacks with focused energy that
is a true danger, little one."
Romana's mouth twitches with a barely perceived smile. -Yes, uncle-
Logan crouches low and begins to growl. "I can see I'm going to have to get this party started!"
Logan takes a flying leap at Romana, who flattens her blades out at the last second and ducks under him, placing her hands on his stomach and guiding him past her. She then straightens out her opposite leg and turns, once again resuming her defensive stance as he flips forward and lands on his feet, facing away from her.
Logan leaps in a spinning kick, his right leg whipping around with speed towards her head. Romana reaches up with her left hand to grab his ankle, while her right palm slams into Logan's knee, hyper-extending it. She pulls his ankle and pushes down on his knee as she rotates her hips, and forces him onto the ground on his back.
Quickly, Logan sweeps Romana's feet with his free leg and sends her flipping backwards in a handspring as he gets to his feet. Romana smiles slyly as she once again resumes the defense.
"You're testing me."Logan growls as he narrows his eyes in irritation.
"I thought that's what this was," Romana retorts with feigned innocence, "a test!"
"Grr.I'm tired of this chicken-shit! Come on and hit me!" Logan yells as he strikes so fast that Romana only has time to raise her knives to her face to block the blades inches away from her throat as he drives her to the ground.
"Please, Logan." Romana grunts as her lip curls with the effort of holding Logan back. "I don't want to fight you."
"You couldn't hurt me with those pig-stickers if you tried, girlie," Logan grumbles with a sneer. "Show me what's in your heart before I take a look for myself the hard way! What would you do if one of our lives were in danger? What if it was Kurt's?"
"Kurt's?" Romana's look hardens as her eyes begin to glow a soft green. "Very well, then."
Romana rocks her body back onto her shoulders and reaches up with legs and crosses her ankles around Logan's neck. She forcefully pulls down as she rocks back and flips his body backwards away from her.
Logan quickly rights himself and smiles evilly as Romana pushes herself to her feet by rolling back on her shoulders and pushing up with her hands. -You should hide your feelings better, girlie- Romana twirls her knives into an offensive strike, her eyes now radiating with the eerie green light.
"Are you ready for round two?" she asks.
"All right, girlie. No holding back this time," Logan warns as he quickly retracts and extends his claws, the protective sheath falling to the ground.
With a smirk, Romana smiles and nods. "I know."
Logan launches himself at Romana's midsection, claws extended. She sidesteps and deflects his claws with her right blade as she lets the momentum of Logan's leap spin her extended left arm slicing across his back.
Logan pulls in his claws as his hands hit the floor, and pushes off the ground to kick back at Romana's head. She blocks by pulling her forearms together, and then ducks as he spins about with his claws to continue the attack.
Romana counters with her own spin and attempts to sweep-kick Logan, who flips backward to avoid it, only to feel the slice of her upward lunge with her knife as he regains his feet.
Logan leans back to try and avoid the blunt of her attack and slashes out with his claws, but Romana is already continuing her lunge upward and planting her hands on his shoulders as she flips behind him.
"Dodge this." Logan grunts as he quickly turns around to attack with his claws extended, fully expecting Romana to try and dodge at the last second.
Surprisingly, Romana drops her blades and grabs Logan's claws with her hands, and intertwines them in her grip. She then pushes his hands down to lower his head and jump kicks, her first foot slamming into Logan's ear, and the second slamming it's heel into his neck with a sickening crunch. Romana lands with a twirl and releases Logan's claws as he crumples to the floor.
"No one."Romana pants as her eyes fade to normal," No one will hurt Kurt as long as I exist!"
With a groan and a popping crunch as he puts his neck back into place, Logan gets to his feet. "As a friend, that's good to hear. As a member of this school and this team, though, I'll tell you now: Be careful of who you share that information with, because there are evil sons of bitches out there who will use every means they can to hurt you. Because you are the way you are," Logan lights a cigar and taps the end of one of his claws against her chest, not even leaving a scratch, "they are bound to go after Kurt. Never forget that."
Nodding grimly, the sweat dripping off Romana's forehead, Romana answers, "Never."
Logan stares at her for a moment, as if sizing up her soul with his eyes. He then grins around his cigar and takes a long puff before he exhales. "Good. Glad we got that settled, then." He slaps the control panel of the Danger Room and the dojo fades away as the door open to reveal the metal hallway beyond.
"By the way." he begins as Romana walks toward the door.
Romana stops, turns her head slightly, and interrupts, "Can't right now, sure, though not today, and I can see the future." She looks over her shoulder, and with a wink of her glowing green eye, she walks out the door.
Logan stares dumfounded for a moment at the exiting Romana. "While I'll be damned," he whispers, and then laughs gruffly at the thought of the questions he was about to ask. -Do you want to get a beer, how about sparring again sometime, and how in the hell did you beat me?-
"Where's Jean?" Logan snarls menacingly as he brings his face close to Romana's.
"Logan...what's going on?" Romana stammers, her eyes wide.
"Something happened to Jeannie, and I want to know what...right..."he raises his closed fist to Romana's eye level.
"Logan! What do you think you are doing?" Jean exclaims as she opens her door and Romana falls on her rear in shock.
"Jean! Are you okay? I thought something happened to you!" Logan asks hurriedly as he steps over Romana to clasp Jean's arms.
"I'm fine, Logan. It's just a stupid bump on the head that was solely my fault. She wanted me to help her with some repressed memories, and I got myself a mental jolt for being careless. You above all others should know how difficult repressed memories can be, Logan!" Jean says in exasperation as she rubs her temple. "Now if you don't mind, I need to go get some Excedrin." Jean stares at Logan pointedly with her arms crossed.
"Oh...right," Logan says in embarrassment and relief as he steps aside and extends a hand to Romana to help her up.
Romana brushes herself off and can't help but notice the way Logan's eyes follow Jean down the hall. "It's tough, isn't it?" she asks as she leans against the doorjamb.
"What is?" Logan asks gruffly, turning his head slightly but still keeping an eye on Jean till she disappears around the corner.
"Living so long without love.especially when it belongs to someone else." Romana says quietly as she crosses her arms over her chest.
"WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT IT?" Logan yells as he spins around with a snikt and plants his claws an inch from Romana's eyes.
"Plenty," Romana says casually as she places a finger to the side of one of his claws and pushes them gently to the side, "that is, if you ever wanted to talk. I have the feeling that we have more in common than you realize, Logan, and I would like us to be friends."
"Friends, huh?" Logan laughs wickedly as he withdraws his claws and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. "Not until I see how you stand up in a fight."
--
They get off the elevator and Logan strides purposefully down the hall till they get to the large metal doors of the Danger Room. "Computer.Logan Dojo.level 1.safety parameters on." Logan commands into the small speaker as he presses a combination of buttons on the control panel in the wall. A green light flashes, and the hall echoes with the thumping of servos as the door opens. "After you," he says almost mockingly as Romana steps into another world.
"Beautiful." Romana whispers as she steps into the ancient Japanese dojo and gazes in amazement. The walls are a cream rice paper with dark cherry wood slats bordering each piece and running across the middle at waist level. Every five panels have a scroll hanging down the wall with Japanese calligraphy written on it. Along the opposite ends of the dojo are racks of various martial arts weapons, from katanas to naginatas. The floor is an off-white canvas covered with woven reed mats, and the ceiling arches upward into various rafters and darkness. As Romana walks to a window, she breathes in the delicate scent of cherry blossoms on the wind. -I may not know the Japanese, but I can tell the home of a warrior when I see one. Just how long have you been alive, Logan?-
"So what did it mean by 'safety parameters on'?" Romana asks as she runs her fingers along the pommels of the weapons in the racks, the sunlight gleaming of their deadly blades.
Logan laughs as a panel opens up in the wall with six narrow slots just the right size for his claws. "It's not like I am worried about hurting you or anything, or you me for that matter." with a smooth sliding sound of metal on metal, Logan releases his claws and inserts them into the slots. When he removes them, he holds his claws up for Romana to see the semi-transparent film coating them. "I just found that I take my claws for granted sometimes, and it's good training for me to handicap myself. Besides.it would be over too quickly if I didn't," he smiles cockily as he assumes a resting stance. "If you want me to be your friend, I have to know what to expect from you, how you will react in a fight. What you can say to me don't mean crap till I see what happens when your basic instincts kick in. Whenever you're ready."
"Fereste-mã, Doamne, de prieteni, cã de dusmani mã feresc eu," Romana says as her search ends on two double-ended knives. She grasps them and turns to assume her ready stance. "Goddess defend me from my friends." she spins the deadly blades in her hands and assumes a defensive stance, one knife arched above her head, the other held in front of her face, "from my enemies I can defend myself."
Romana can't help but remember her Uncle Megosh teaching her lessons in Baratero, the knife-fighting style of the gypsies, long ago as she holds the deadly blades before her.
"Now remember, nanochka, the best way to figure out your opponent is
to let him attack first. Draw him out to show his purpose, and you
will have already won. As you stay calm, he will anger. As you dodge,
he will strike wilder."
"But isn't that dangerous, uncle?"
"It is the man who speaks little and attacks with focused energy that
is a true danger, little one."
Romana's mouth twitches with a barely perceived smile. -Yes, uncle-
Logan crouches low and begins to growl. "I can see I'm going to have to get this party started!"
Logan takes a flying leap at Romana, who flattens her blades out at the last second and ducks under him, placing her hands on his stomach and guiding him past her. She then straightens out her opposite leg and turns, once again resuming her defensive stance as he flips forward and lands on his feet, facing away from her.
Logan leaps in a spinning kick, his right leg whipping around with speed towards her head. Romana reaches up with her left hand to grab his ankle, while her right palm slams into Logan's knee, hyper-extending it. She pulls his ankle and pushes down on his knee as she rotates her hips, and forces him onto the ground on his back.
Quickly, Logan sweeps Romana's feet with his free leg and sends her flipping backwards in a handspring as he gets to his feet. Romana smiles slyly as she once again resumes the defense.
"You're testing me."Logan growls as he narrows his eyes in irritation.
"I thought that's what this was," Romana retorts with feigned innocence, "a test!"
"Grr.I'm tired of this chicken-shit! Come on and hit me!" Logan yells as he strikes so fast that Romana only has time to raise her knives to her face to block the blades inches away from her throat as he drives her to the ground.
"Please, Logan." Romana grunts as her lip curls with the effort of holding Logan back. "I don't want to fight you."
"You couldn't hurt me with those pig-stickers if you tried, girlie," Logan grumbles with a sneer. "Show me what's in your heart before I take a look for myself the hard way! What would you do if one of our lives were in danger? What if it was Kurt's?"
"Kurt's?" Romana's look hardens as her eyes begin to glow a soft green. "Very well, then."
Romana rocks her body back onto her shoulders and reaches up with legs and crosses her ankles around Logan's neck. She forcefully pulls down as she rocks back and flips his body backwards away from her.
Logan quickly rights himself and smiles evilly as Romana pushes herself to her feet by rolling back on her shoulders and pushing up with her hands. -You should hide your feelings better, girlie- Romana twirls her knives into an offensive strike, her eyes now radiating with the eerie green light.
"Are you ready for round two?" she asks.
"All right, girlie. No holding back this time," Logan warns as he quickly retracts and extends his claws, the protective sheath falling to the ground.
With a smirk, Romana smiles and nods. "I know."
Logan launches himself at Romana's midsection, claws extended. She sidesteps and deflects his claws with her right blade as she lets the momentum of Logan's leap spin her extended left arm slicing across his back.
Logan pulls in his claws as his hands hit the floor, and pushes off the ground to kick back at Romana's head. She blocks by pulling her forearms together, and then ducks as he spins about with his claws to continue the attack.
Romana counters with her own spin and attempts to sweep-kick Logan, who flips backward to avoid it, only to feel the slice of her upward lunge with her knife as he regains his feet.
Logan leans back to try and avoid the blunt of her attack and slashes out with his claws, but Romana is already continuing her lunge upward and planting her hands on his shoulders as she flips behind him.
"Dodge this." Logan grunts as he quickly turns around to attack with his claws extended, fully expecting Romana to try and dodge at the last second.
Surprisingly, Romana drops her blades and grabs Logan's claws with her hands, and intertwines them in her grip. She then pushes his hands down to lower his head and jump kicks, her first foot slamming into Logan's ear, and the second slamming it's heel into his neck with a sickening crunch. Romana lands with a twirl and releases Logan's claws as he crumples to the floor.
"No one."Romana pants as her eyes fade to normal," No one will hurt Kurt as long as I exist!"
With a groan and a popping crunch as he puts his neck back into place, Logan gets to his feet. "As a friend, that's good to hear. As a member of this school and this team, though, I'll tell you now: Be careful of who you share that information with, because there are evil sons of bitches out there who will use every means they can to hurt you. Because you are the way you are," Logan lights a cigar and taps the end of one of his claws against her chest, not even leaving a scratch, "they are bound to go after Kurt. Never forget that."
Nodding grimly, the sweat dripping off Romana's forehead, Romana answers, "Never."
Logan stares at her for a moment, as if sizing up her soul with his eyes. He then grins around his cigar and takes a long puff before he exhales. "Good. Glad we got that settled, then." He slaps the control panel of the Danger Room and the dojo fades away as the door open to reveal the metal hallway beyond.
"By the way." he begins as Romana walks toward the door.
Romana stops, turns her head slightly, and interrupts, "Can't right now, sure, though not today, and I can see the future." She looks over her shoulder, and with a wink of her glowing green eye, she walks out the door.
Logan stares dumfounded for a moment at the exiting Romana. "While I'll be damned," he whispers, and then laughs gruffly at the thought of the questions he was about to ask. -Do you want to get a beer, how about sparring again sometime, and how in the hell did you beat me?-