Chapter Seven
By the time they landed at the Institute, Kurt had gotten the hang of flying. Initially it had been difficult for him to relax against the winds that carried them, but after a bit of coaching he became just as comfortable as when he was teleporting. As soon as their feet hit the ground, Ororo led him to the side door. She unlocked it and led him inside.
"Well, today is Logan's turn to cook, so most likely we'll order pizza," Ororo said as they entered the kitchen. She saw Logan peering underneath the table. "Logan, what are you doing?"
"I'm looking for that kid that Jean lost," he growled. He opened up a cabinet under one of the china displays. "You know, the one with the furry tail."
"Tiffany?" Ororo asked. She saw Kurt smile when he recognized the name.
"I guess so," Logan said, checking the other cabinet. "Jean has half the house looking for her." "It's too bad that the kid's immune to all forms of telepathy. It's be easier to find her if Jean could just- you know," he mimed touching his temples and concentrating.
Ororo grinned at the imitation; Logan scowled. "Well, Kurt is joining us for dinner, did you order it already?"
"Yeah, don't worry though, we got plenty for him too," Logan said. "The most of the kids have already eaten, so it's just the staff and a few of the older ones." He opened the pantry, shrugging when he saw it was empty of any children.
"Hey, Bobbie," Logan called into the hallway, "did you find her yet."
"Nope, we're going to check the attic," Bobbie replied, walking off towards the back of the school.
Wolverine growled and opened the top cabinets that Tiffany couldn't even reach, "I'm just being thorough," he explained when Ororo raised an eyebrow at him.
"So, Kurt, would you like a drink?" Ororo asked.
"Ja, that would be good," he said. Ororo headed to the refrigerator. "Where are the cups?" he asked her.
"Third cabinet over, behind the counter, top shelf," Ororo instructed, rummaging in the fridge.
Kurt walked around the corner, stopping suddenly and beginning to chuckle. "Ororo," he said urgently, "Come over here, I believe I have found Tiffany."
Ororo and Logan both went around the corner of the staff kitchen's counter. On the floor behind it lay six year old Tiffany, covered in peanut butter and cuddling the half-empty jar to her side like a fat, round doll. Ororo smiled widely, both of the others similarly amused. "Kurt, open that drawer and pass me my camera," Ororo said softly. Kurt obeyed and Ororo insisted on taking several pictures before she would let Logan pick her up and take her back to Jean. "Ok, you can go now," Ororo told him with a smile.
"Oh thank you," Logan said sarcastically. The last thing he saw as he left the kitchen was Ororo trying to pour some kind of punch with Kurt leaning over her shoulder. Logan guessed it would be awhile before either of them got anything to drink actually down their throats. He left quickly before it got any mushier.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Logan marched through the house, carrying a sleeping, peanut butter covered little girl. Several people grinned as he walked by and he sighed. This was not helping him live up to his threatening persona. Finally he opened the door to Jean's room and marched in.
"Logan, you found her!" Jean said happily, trying not to laugh at the spectacle.
Logan's attention however, was fixated on the woman in the corner of the room who was currently refusing to look at him. He forced himself to hand the little girl over to Jean, who left telling them she needed to clean her up. Her words registered on level of his brain that automatically responded with a nod. The rest of him was furiously composing and rejecting possible responses to Rogue's presence. As soon as Jean left the room Rogue stood and made for the door.
"Rogue, wait, I want to talk to you," Logan said, blocking the only exit.
"Unfortunately, *I* do not want to talk to *you*," Rogue said, pushing him aside.
"I am trying to get past this," Logan said, trying not to get angry.
"This is not something you get past or even over, Logan," Rogue said coldly. "I've already tried." She was out the door before her words registered on Wolverine's mind.
Logan walked quickly to the door, his mind spinning through hopeful scenarios. "Something she couldn't get over?" "Is it possible that she has the same kinds of feelings for me that I do for her?" "I always knew she had some sort of crush on me, but she couldn't love me... could she?" Logan's face twisted in frustration at his own thoughts. "There I go again, treating her like a child with childlike feelings." "No wonder she's so angry." "If she's been in love with me the whole time and I just haven't seen it, I'm surprised she's taking it as well as she is." "If it were me, I'd be bashing my face in about now," he paused, considering the logic in that statement before dismissing the errant thought. All his attention was for Rogue.
Logan attempted to smell which direction she had gone, but between all the times Rogue had been down this corridor and the smells of the others inhabitants, it was impossible to determine. Without warning Jean's voice echoed in his head. He instinctively turned in her direction as she stared at him. "She's gone to the Danger Room, if you hurry you can reach her before she locks it down with her inside."
Logan nodded, not even bothering to thank Jean. He took off in the direction of the Danger Room, taking a few short cuts down the banisters. He actually arrived just as the doors were closing and managed to slip inside. He saw Rogue step forward and the holograms activate. She leapt into action, fluidly destroying various robotic defenses and disarming traps. She took down several holographic mutants while Logan sat back and watched. Finally when she had completed the first program he saw her place a small disk into the computer.
The holographic program changed to the picture of a ruin; weapons of varying degrees of technological advancement were scattered about the place while mist curled everywhere. Rogue stepped forward and grabbed a mirrored shield. She turned to face Cyclops and Jean, emerging from one of the broken buildings. It took a moment for Logan to realize that these were more holograms, Rogue was practicing beating the X-Men. "The ultimate test," Wolverine muttered. He reached up and carefully pulled his uniform out of the cabinet in which it was kept. He pulled it on while Rogue battled Jean and Scott, playing their abilities against each other. It took her awhile, but she eventually deflected Scott's beam into Jean after first weakening her with a touch and then knocked the leader of the X-Men unconscious with the blunt end of a nearby sword. They disappeared with a soft whisper and Rogue looked around breathing heavily.
Storm appeared in the air in the background, carrying Iceman. She dropped him lightly to the ground and alighted gracefully. Rogue picked up a tranquilizer gun and flamethrower from where they were stashed. Using a rolling dodge to miss Bobbie's first wave she quickly fired a huge burst of fire at him. He fell back, the heat wounding him more than the tranquilizer bolt that was now in his side. He managed to coat Rogue's left foot in ice and distract her from Storm before the dart's anesthetic overwhelmed him. Storm, however, now had her off balance. Pelting Rogue with snow and an occasionally lightning bolt, she deflected the first shot from the tranq. gun. Ororo climbed higher, realizing Rogue was caught for the moment by the ice. She threw her hands up, raining soft-ball size hail down onto her. Rogue quickly used the flamethrower to melt the ice. Then she set it to long range, short bursts and aimed it at Ororo. The second burst was dodged, but as she came closer the next burst of flame knocked her slightly askew. Rogue quickly aimed, hitting her with the dart from the tranquilizer gun and then diving sideways to miss her kick. She was slightly too slow and Storm's foot connected with the side of her face. Two punches later the tranq. had done it's work and the Ororo-hologram had follows Iceman's example and faded from view.
Rogue turned, scanning the room for something. Logan abruptly realized that she was looking for the Wolverine hologram. He quickly turned around, spotting holo-Logan forming a few feet from him. The second he began to move Logan stabbed him with his claws through the throat. He never had a chance. Then he moved towards Marie, reminding himself that he was now a hologram and could not speak. "This could actually be fun."
He watched as Rogue picked up two thin short swords. She had obviously prepared her weapons of choice in advance and had each one tuned to a specific team member. Logan approached stealthily, hoping to sneak up on her. Just as he was about to strike he found his claws blocked by her sword. "Better luck next time, Logan," Rogue said with a smile. Then she struck out with her sword, causing him to leap back to avoid a hit.
"Has Rogue improved or have I let myself go?" Wolverine thought, ducking one of her kicks. He unleashed a furious assault of knife-filled punches, all successfully blocked by Rogue. He was only able to hit her once, knocking her backward with a kick to the stomach. She pulled back slightly, obviously ignoring the pain and Logan felt a brief stab of guilt. His moment of distraction cost him; Rogue pulled herself upright with lightning speed and smacked him upside the head with the flat of her blade with great force. It hurt like, well, like being hit with a sword. Luckily the pain only lasted about ten seconds before he healed from it completely.
Logan then threw himself into the fight, battling back and forth across the Danger Room. He threw her into the wall and she tripped him, stabbing him through the leg with the sword. He managed not to bleed on the floor because holographic blood would disappear when it touched the ground. He wasn't about to let Marie know that the jig was up. As he healed, he also watched as she did several back flips to give herself more room to attack. She was actually laughing with exertion, obviously enjoying the fight as much as he was. "Although, I'm certain I wouldn't be having half as fun getting stabbed through the thigh with Scott or Jean," he thought ruefully. Though normally he liked to fight, he was glad that it was Rogue who was matching him blow for blow and not one of the others. Somehow it wasn't as galling.
The fight resumed, Rogue having a lot of energy to burn after avoiding the Danger Room for an entire day. She was aware that it was Logan's favorite place to be when not on a mission and had not wanted to meet him there accidentally. The fight continued. Eventually Logan managed to pin Marie against one of the walls, divesting her of one blade and pinning the other to her side. Rogue laughed, even as Wolverine put his blades to her throat.
"Ok, ok, I admit it, you win," she said, smiling. "But I still think if Logan were really here I could kick his butt!" Her smile faded as she looked into what should have been holographic eyes. A slight expression of confusion marred her face and she leaned in to take a closer look. Wolverine couldn't resist meeting her half way in a kiss.
The first thing that surprised Logan was the sheer intensity of it. It was as if every motion of their heads held some sort of deeper meaning, even as the kiss deepened and they grew more frenzied. He didn't think he had ever kissed anyone he was in love with before. There had been a brief crush on Jean, but that was just a natural reaction to the first attractive, smart woman that he had seen in a long time. Rogue was so much more than that. He was shocked to find himself thinking that perhaps he would give up those cigars that Marie disliked so much. Man, he was turning into such a pansy. Not that that mattered because he was kissing Marie, his Marie, and nothing was more important than that.
With a wrench the kiss was broken leaving them both panting heavily. "You... you shouldn't be able to do that," Rogue gasped, still breathing heavily, her eyes slightly glazed from the kiss. "You aren't programmed..." she trailed off, suddenly understanding what was going on.
"Computer," Logan said, holding Marie tightly against the wall, "end Danger Room simulation." The holographic world instantaneously disappeared, leaving the two alone in the dark room. "I came to apologize if you would just stay in the same room with me long enough."
Rogue began to immediately struggle. "I don't want to hear it, let me go you freaking psychosomatic reject!" "You sick, metallic basta-" she was interrupted by Wolverine's mouth once more descending upon her own. He gently traced her bottom lip with his tongue and then began to ravish her mouth. Once he was reasonably certain that she had let loose most of her anger and frustration he gently broke it off. He continued to kiss along her neck and jaw line while murmuring apologetic sentences.
Rogue was too incredibly dazed to worry about accepting such sentiments. She was also marginally distracted by how deliriously happy she suddenly was. "Um, Logan?" she asked when she was sufficiently recovered to attempt to ignore the delicious sensations that Wolverine was creating with his lips.
"Hmmm?" he asked, still kissing her.
Rogue suppressed a moan as Logan moved to a particularly sensitive spot. "Could we talk about how in the last three minutes I have gone from screaming obscenities at you to trying to tear your clothes off?"
Logan reluctantly pulled back. "You know, baby, I've been telling you that you should take something for those mood swings of yours," he said flippantly.
She raised an eyebrow at his dissembling and said sternly. "Really Logan."
"Really?" he asked, trying to be serious in the face of the woman he was madly in love with. "I guess you just finally admitted you were in love with me," he said solemnly. "Over the years I've found that usually the one person that can get you *that* angry *that* quickly is usually the one you love." Rogue looked up at him, and all of the sudden tears were overflowing her eyes and running down her cheeks. Logan's face filled with consternation; He didn't know what to do, except to hold her against him.
"Damn you, Wolverine, why did you have to figure that out?" she asked quietly. "I've had it locked inside for almost four years."
Logan smiled against her hair. "If it helps, I'm in love with you too," he said.
Rogue pulled back, looking into his eyes as if to weigh the truth in his words. He tried to project everything he was feeling into his gaze, and he guessed he had succeeded because she smiled and kissed him again. And everything was all right because he was kissing Marie, his Marie, and nothing was more important than that.
By the time they landed at the Institute, Kurt had gotten the hang of flying. Initially it had been difficult for him to relax against the winds that carried them, but after a bit of coaching he became just as comfortable as when he was teleporting. As soon as their feet hit the ground, Ororo led him to the side door. She unlocked it and led him inside.
"Well, today is Logan's turn to cook, so most likely we'll order pizza," Ororo said as they entered the kitchen. She saw Logan peering underneath the table. "Logan, what are you doing?"
"I'm looking for that kid that Jean lost," he growled. He opened up a cabinet under one of the china displays. "You know, the one with the furry tail."
"Tiffany?" Ororo asked. She saw Kurt smile when he recognized the name.
"I guess so," Logan said, checking the other cabinet. "Jean has half the house looking for her." "It's too bad that the kid's immune to all forms of telepathy. It's be easier to find her if Jean could just- you know," he mimed touching his temples and concentrating.
Ororo grinned at the imitation; Logan scowled. "Well, Kurt is joining us for dinner, did you order it already?"
"Yeah, don't worry though, we got plenty for him too," Logan said. "The most of the kids have already eaten, so it's just the staff and a few of the older ones." He opened the pantry, shrugging when he saw it was empty of any children.
"Hey, Bobbie," Logan called into the hallway, "did you find her yet."
"Nope, we're going to check the attic," Bobbie replied, walking off towards the back of the school.
Wolverine growled and opened the top cabinets that Tiffany couldn't even reach, "I'm just being thorough," he explained when Ororo raised an eyebrow at him.
"So, Kurt, would you like a drink?" Ororo asked.
"Ja, that would be good," he said. Ororo headed to the refrigerator. "Where are the cups?" he asked her.
"Third cabinet over, behind the counter, top shelf," Ororo instructed, rummaging in the fridge.
Kurt walked around the corner, stopping suddenly and beginning to chuckle. "Ororo," he said urgently, "Come over here, I believe I have found Tiffany."
Ororo and Logan both went around the corner of the staff kitchen's counter. On the floor behind it lay six year old Tiffany, covered in peanut butter and cuddling the half-empty jar to her side like a fat, round doll. Ororo smiled widely, both of the others similarly amused. "Kurt, open that drawer and pass me my camera," Ororo said softly. Kurt obeyed and Ororo insisted on taking several pictures before she would let Logan pick her up and take her back to Jean. "Ok, you can go now," Ororo told him with a smile.
"Oh thank you," Logan said sarcastically. The last thing he saw as he left the kitchen was Ororo trying to pour some kind of punch with Kurt leaning over her shoulder. Logan guessed it would be awhile before either of them got anything to drink actually down their throats. He left quickly before it got any mushier.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Logan marched through the house, carrying a sleeping, peanut butter covered little girl. Several people grinned as he walked by and he sighed. This was not helping him live up to his threatening persona. Finally he opened the door to Jean's room and marched in.
"Logan, you found her!" Jean said happily, trying not to laugh at the spectacle.
Logan's attention however, was fixated on the woman in the corner of the room who was currently refusing to look at him. He forced himself to hand the little girl over to Jean, who left telling them she needed to clean her up. Her words registered on level of his brain that automatically responded with a nod. The rest of him was furiously composing and rejecting possible responses to Rogue's presence. As soon as Jean left the room Rogue stood and made for the door.
"Rogue, wait, I want to talk to you," Logan said, blocking the only exit.
"Unfortunately, *I* do not want to talk to *you*," Rogue said, pushing him aside.
"I am trying to get past this," Logan said, trying not to get angry.
"This is not something you get past or even over, Logan," Rogue said coldly. "I've already tried." She was out the door before her words registered on Wolverine's mind.
Logan walked quickly to the door, his mind spinning through hopeful scenarios. "Something she couldn't get over?" "Is it possible that she has the same kinds of feelings for me that I do for her?" "I always knew she had some sort of crush on me, but she couldn't love me... could she?" Logan's face twisted in frustration at his own thoughts. "There I go again, treating her like a child with childlike feelings." "No wonder she's so angry." "If she's been in love with me the whole time and I just haven't seen it, I'm surprised she's taking it as well as she is." "If it were me, I'd be bashing my face in about now," he paused, considering the logic in that statement before dismissing the errant thought. All his attention was for Rogue.
Logan attempted to smell which direction she had gone, but between all the times Rogue had been down this corridor and the smells of the others inhabitants, it was impossible to determine. Without warning Jean's voice echoed in his head. He instinctively turned in her direction as she stared at him. "She's gone to the Danger Room, if you hurry you can reach her before she locks it down with her inside."
Logan nodded, not even bothering to thank Jean. He took off in the direction of the Danger Room, taking a few short cuts down the banisters. He actually arrived just as the doors were closing and managed to slip inside. He saw Rogue step forward and the holograms activate. She leapt into action, fluidly destroying various robotic defenses and disarming traps. She took down several holographic mutants while Logan sat back and watched. Finally when she had completed the first program he saw her place a small disk into the computer.
The holographic program changed to the picture of a ruin; weapons of varying degrees of technological advancement were scattered about the place while mist curled everywhere. Rogue stepped forward and grabbed a mirrored shield. She turned to face Cyclops and Jean, emerging from one of the broken buildings. It took a moment for Logan to realize that these were more holograms, Rogue was practicing beating the X-Men. "The ultimate test," Wolverine muttered. He reached up and carefully pulled his uniform out of the cabinet in which it was kept. He pulled it on while Rogue battled Jean and Scott, playing their abilities against each other. It took her awhile, but she eventually deflected Scott's beam into Jean after first weakening her with a touch and then knocked the leader of the X-Men unconscious with the blunt end of a nearby sword. They disappeared with a soft whisper and Rogue looked around breathing heavily.
Storm appeared in the air in the background, carrying Iceman. She dropped him lightly to the ground and alighted gracefully. Rogue picked up a tranquilizer gun and flamethrower from where they were stashed. Using a rolling dodge to miss Bobbie's first wave she quickly fired a huge burst of fire at him. He fell back, the heat wounding him more than the tranquilizer bolt that was now in his side. He managed to coat Rogue's left foot in ice and distract her from Storm before the dart's anesthetic overwhelmed him. Storm, however, now had her off balance. Pelting Rogue with snow and an occasionally lightning bolt, she deflected the first shot from the tranq. gun. Ororo climbed higher, realizing Rogue was caught for the moment by the ice. She threw her hands up, raining soft-ball size hail down onto her. Rogue quickly used the flamethrower to melt the ice. Then she set it to long range, short bursts and aimed it at Ororo. The second burst was dodged, but as she came closer the next burst of flame knocked her slightly askew. Rogue quickly aimed, hitting her with the dart from the tranquilizer gun and then diving sideways to miss her kick. She was slightly too slow and Storm's foot connected with the side of her face. Two punches later the tranq. had done it's work and the Ororo-hologram had follows Iceman's example and faded from view.
Rogue turned, scanning the room for something. Logan abruptly realized that she was looking for the Wolverine hologram. He quickly turned around, spotting holo-Logan forming a few feet from him. The second he began to move Logan stabbed him with his claws through the throat. He never had a chance. Then he moved towards Marie, reminding himself that he was now a hologram and could not speak. "This could actually be fun."
He watched as Rogue picked up two thin short swords. She had obviously prepared her weapons of choice in advance and had each one tuned to a specific team member. Logan approached stealthily, hoping to sneak up on her. Just as he was about to strike he found his claws blocked by her sword. "Better luck next time, Logan," Rogue said with a smile. Then she struck out with her sword, causing him to leap back to avoid a hit.
"Has Rogue improved or have I let myself go?" Wolverine thought, ducking one of her kicks. He unleashed a furious assault of knife-filled punches, all successfully blocked by Rogue. He was only able to hit her once, knocking her backward with a kick to the stomach. She pulled back slightly, obviously ignoring the pain and Logan felt a brief stab of guilt. His moment of distraction cost him; Rogue pulled herself upright with lightning speed and smacked him upside the head with the flat of her blade with great force. It hurt like, well, like being hit with a sword. Luckily the pain only lasted about ten seconds before he healed from it completely.
Logan then threw himself into the fight, battling back and forth across the Danger Room. He threw her into the wall and she tripped him, stabbing him through the leg with the sword. He managed not to bleed on the floor because holographic blood would disappear when it touched the ground. He wasn't about to let Marie know that the jig was up. As he healed, he also watched as she did several back flips to give herself more room to attack. She was actually laughing with exertion, obviously enjoying the fight as much as he was. "Although, I'm certain I wouldn't be having half as fun getting stabbed through the thigh with Scott or Jean," he thought ruefully. Though normally he liked to fight, he was glad that it was Rogue who was matching him blow for blow and not one of the others. Somehow it wasn't as galling.
The fight resumed, Rogue having a lot of energy to burn after avoiding the Danger Room for an entire day. She was aware that it was Logan's favorite place to be when not on a mission and had not wanted to meet him there accidentally. The fight continued. Eventually Logan managed to pin Marie against one of the walls, divesting her of one blade and pinning the other to her side. Rogue laughed, even as Wolverine put his blades to her throat.
"Ok, ok, I admit it, you win," she said, smiling. "But I still think if Logan were really here I could kick his butt!" Her smile faded as she looked into what should have been holographic eyes. A slight expression of confusion marred her face and she leaned in to take a closer look. Wolverine couldn't resist meeting her half way in a kiss.
The first thing that surprised Logan was the sheer intensity of it. It was as if every motion of their heads held some sort of deeper meaning, even as the kiss deepened and they grew more frenzied. He didn't think he had ever kissed anyone he was in love with before. There had been a brief crush on Jean, but that was just a natural reaction to the first attractive, smart woman that he had seen in a long time. Rogue was so much more than that. He was shocked to find himself thinking that perhaps he would give up those cigars that Marie disliked so much. Man, he was turning into such a pansy. Not that that mattered because he was kissing Marie, his Marie, and nothing was more important than that.
With a wrench the kiss was broken leaving them both panting heavily. "You... you shouldn't be able to do that," Rogue gasped, still breathing heavily, her eyes slightly glazed from the kiss. "You aren't programmed..." she trailed off, suddenly understanding what was going on.
"Computer," Logan said, holding Marie tightly against the wall, "end Danger Room simulation." The holographic world instantaneously disappeared, leaving the two alone in the dark room. "I came to apologize if you would just stay in the same room with me long enough."
Rogue began to immediately struggle. "I don't want to hear it, let me go you freaking psychosomatic reject!" "You sick, metallic basta-" she was interrupted by Wolverine's mouth once more descending upon her own. He gently traced her bottom lip with his tongue and then began to ravish her mouth. Once he was reasonably certain that she had let loose most of her anger and frustration he gently broke it off. He continued to kiss along her neck and jaw line while murmuring apologetic sentences.
Rogue was too incredibly dazed to worry about accepting such sentiments. She was also marginally distracted by how deliriously happy she suddenly was. "Um, Logan?" she asked when she was sufficiently recovered to attempt to ignore the delicious sensations that Wolverine was creating with his lips.
"Hmmm?" he asked, still kissing her.
Rogue suppressed a moan as Logan moved to a particularly sensitive spot. "Could we talk about how in the last three minutes I have gone from screaming obscenities at you to trying to tear your clothes off?"
Logan reluctantly pulled back. "You know, baby, I've been telling you that you should take something for those mood swings of yours," he said flippantly.
She raised an eyebrow at his dissembling and said sternly. "Really Logan."
"Really?" he asked, trying to be serious in the face of the woman he was madly in love with. "I guess you just finally admitted you were in love with me," he said solemnly. "Over the years I've found that usually the one person that can get you *that* angry *that* quickly is usually the one you love." Rogue looked up at him, and all of the sudden tears were overflowing her eyes and running down her cheeks. Logan's face filled with consternation; He didn't know what to do, except to hold her against him.
"Damn you, Wolverine, why did you have to figure that out?" she asked quietly. "I've had it locked inside for almost four years."
Logan smiled against her hair. "If it helps, I'm in love with you too," he said.
Rogue pulled back, looking into his eyes as if to weigh the truth in his words. He tried to project everything he was feeling into his gaze, and he guessed he had succeeded because she smiled and kissed him again. And everything was all right because he was kissing Marie, his Marie, and nothing was more important than that.