Chapter Eight:

Fiery Feelings

January 21

The next morning, when Logan woke up, he was aware of a commotion coming from Shaina's room. Looks like Sailor Chicks is mother, he thought to himself. Quickly, he dressed, and strolled in to Shaina's room.

Keri, Kitty, and Kurt were leaning over the drawer and cooing. Logan looked in as well, and found a tired-looking Sailor Chicks nursing four small puffballs.

Logan looked at Shaina, who looked proud of her cat. "Did it go well?" He asked.

Shaina nodded. "Yea…she needed my help a bit with drying them off, and the last one came out feet first and was kinda stubborn, but it's alright now. All of the kittens are doing fine."

Meanwhile, the three K's were still watching the kittens. Keri smiled. "They're so cute! Even if they are still blind and deaf!" She reached down to pet one, but Sailor Chicks let loose a caterwaul teamed with a hiss that sounded like it could have come from a tiger, and showed her some teeth.

Keri withdrew her arm. "OK. Cool it, Sparky," Keri said in a high-pitched voice.

"Keri, she, like, doesn't want you to touch her babies!" Kitty scolded.

"It's nothing personal. It's just a traditional thing." Shaina pointed out.

"Will she let you hold the kittens?" Keri asked.

Shaina nodded. "Yea, because I've known her for seven years, and plus, I was a midwife during her delivery."

"Huh?"

"I helped her when she was having them."

"Oh…"

Kurt looked up at Shaina. "So, vat are they?"

Logan rolled his eyes. "They're kittens, Elf. Where have you been?"

Kurt made a face. "I know zat! I mean, are zey boys or girls?"

Shaina pointed to an pale-orange kitten with faint brown stripes, and a black one. "These two are boys," She explained. She then pointed to a cream-colored colored one and one that was white with silvery gray highlights, "…and these two are girls."

Scott walked in. "Hey, is anyone gonna come down for breakfast?" Then, he noticed Sailor Chicks. "Uh…congratulations, Sailor Chicks."

Sailor Chicks gave him a content smile.

Keri's orange head popped up. "Ya know, I'm going to go get everyone!"

"Why don't we eat first?" Shaina suggested.

Everyone agreed, and began to make their way down to the dining room. Logan was about to leave, but noticed that Keri was hanging behind. Logan could tell that she wanted nothing more to grab a kitten and cuddle it senseless.

Sailor Chicks shot her a warning glance that said quite clearly, "If you touch my babies, I'll tear out your eyeballs."

Keri held her hands out. "OK. I'm going…"

As she backed out of the door, one of the kittens, the cream-colored one, yawned, showing its pink tongue.

Keri jammed her hands on her hips. "Alright, now you're just teasing me."

Logan chuckled. "C'mon, Imp." He grabbed her by the arm, and dragged her out of the room.

***

"YOU ARE NOT RIGHT! YOU ARE WRONG! WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! WRONG IS WHAT YOU ARE! YOU'RE WRONG! WHAT YOU'RE SAYING RIGHT NOW IS WRONG! AND DON'T ARGUE WITH ME, 'CAUSE I KNOW YOU'RE WRONG!" Keri shouted.

Logan walked up. "Keri, why are you arguin' with your Gameboy®?"

Keri looked at him as if it were obvious. "It said I touched the enemy, but I know that he was exactly four pixels away!"

It took Logan a second to remember what a pixel was. Then, he shrugged. "That's not really a lot…maybe you made a mistake."

Keri glared at him. "Oh, sure, take its side!" She picked up her Gameboy®. "I'll be in my trailer!" With that, she stormed in to the closet.

Scott walked past. "Uh, what's going on?"

"Keri just threw a fit and stormed in to the closet," Logan answered.

Scott shrugged. "Maybe it's hormones?"

Logan looked at him. "Or maybe she's just mad because Sailor Chicks won't let her hold a kitten."

Keri phased her head through the door. "WRONG! YOU'VE GOT IT ALL WRONG! YOU'RE ALWAYS WRONG! YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME, YOU WRONG PERSON!" She jammed it back in, and about two seconds later, she popped it back out at him. "That was directed at Scott, by-the-way. Logan pretty much hit the nail right on the head."

Shaina walked in to the room, cupping something in her hands. "What's up, guys?" She asked.

"Nothin' outta the ordinary." Logan replied honestly.

Shaina nodded. "Anyway, I was looking for Keri. While Sailor Chicks was asleep, I snuck out this!" She held out her hands, which held the white and silver kitten. "I thought she might want to see her…"

Suddenly, from inside the closet, they all heard the sound of running feet, and a BAM that sounded unmistakably like something heavy hitting the door. About five seconds later, Keri phased through the door, holding her forehead. "Ow…Forgot to phase through the door that first time…" When she saw the kitten, her eyes lit up, and rushed over. "KITTEN!"

"Shh!" Scott shushed her. "You want the poor thing to go deaf?!"

"Um, actually, Scott, she's deaf right now. And blind. She was just born last night, ya know," Shaina pointed out.

Logan looked at the it. "Then how come she just looked up?"

This was true. For right after Shaina commented on about the kitten's senses, it raised its tiny head up and peered at them through sealed eyelids.

"She's can't hear or see you, but she can smell you, and she can feel air vibrations. She knows that she's not with her mother and siblings.

"Whatever!" Keri said absentmindedly as she pet the kitten's fur. The kitten jumped slightly, but remained calm under Keri's hand.

Shaina's eyes shot open. "Oh dear. My Sailor Chicks senses are tingling. She's waking up, and she'll be pretty P.O.'ed when she finds three kittens instead of four. I gotta get this little gal back to her!" She snatched up the tiny kitten and made a mad-dash back to her room.

***

January 22

Logan couldn't sleep. He kept waking up, sometimes from nightmares about the doctor who gave him his adamantium skeleton; other times he couldn't remember why.

Finally, around 2:00 A.M., he decided to go to the kitchen for something to help him sleep. When he arrived, he was surprised to see Shaina there, as well. She was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a glass of milk.

She looked up at him. "Hello."

"Hey," He greeted, looking her over. Her pajamas were a red tank-top and red plaid pants.

"So, what brings you down here at this hour?" She asked.

"Nightmares teamed with insomnia."

"Same here. I kept dreaming that a plague of bees were attacking the elementary school. It was like a stupid B-movie, but still…" Shaina said. "And you?"

Logan sat down next to her. "I…" How could he sum it all up? "Well, ya see, the people who gave me my adamantium claws and skeleton—an organization called, 'Shield'—also gave me amnesia. So, I really don't know a lot about myself…like my age, my surname, and my past…But every time I have a nightmare, it's about the surgery…or at least chunks of it."

"Wow…" Shaina breathed. "That makes my Bee thing look like a princess-in-a-castle-fantasy." Logan could tell by the look on her face that she was thinking, Should he be telling me this? "Uh…I'm sorry…"

"Yea, well, what's done is done, and the fact still remains that I can't sleep," Logan brushed it off.

"Try milk. It helps you sleep." She gestured over to her half-full glass of milk.

Logan nodded, and got himself a glass and pulled the square milk jug out of the fridge.

Shaina turned to him. "I've seen square watermelons, but I had never seen square milk jugs until I moved to Bayville."

"Square watermelons?" Logan asked.

"Yea! They grow 'em in Japan! Ya see, people kept complaining about how their watermelons didn't fit in the fridge, so somebody came up with a method of growing the watermelons in a glass box, so they're square!"

Logan poured his milk and sat down, absorbed in her story. "Are you makin' this up?"

Shaina shook her head. "No, I'm serious! My aunt and her family live in Japan, and when I was a kid, she used to serve square watermelon when we came to visit!"

"How does it taste?"

"Exactly like regular watermelon. Which is a bit of a let-down, considering that the darn thing costs roughly the equivalent of $70."

"Interesting…" Logan commented. Logan pictured the cube-shaped watermelon in his mind, and struggled not to laugh. He had never really been fond of the taste of watermelon, it was too sweet and messy. But he did like the way it smelled. He felt as though he needed something to discuss with her, so he asked, "So, do ya like living here?"

Shaina took a sip of her milk and wiped off her mouth. "Yea. Everyone seems pretty nice…except for Rogue."

Logan sighed. "It's nothin' personal. She's got that whole, 'Goth-teenage-angst' thing going on, but she has a reason to act that way."

"And what's that?"

"Well, she never knew her birth-parents, and Mystique adopted her when she was four. When her power first surfaced, Mystique tricked her in to thinkin' that the X-Men wanted to hurt her, so she joined the Brotherhood. When she realized that Mystique had lied to her, she joined the X-Men, but it's like I always say: Betrayal sticks with ya. But I think that the main reason she acts like that is because her power makes it so she can't have skin-to-skin contact with anyone."

Shaina sighed. "Well, when you put it that way, I can't blame her for being…be-yatchy," She said, carefully avoided cursing.

Logan couldn't help but chuckle. A woman of 28 who used the word 'be-yatchy'?

Suddenly, the two of them heard a female voice clearing her throat. They turned and saw Rogue standing in the doorway. She didn't look completely thrilled.

"Hey," Logan said. "Couldn't sleep?"

"No, Ah couldn't," Rogue replied shortly.

"Would you like some milk?" Shaina offered.

"No thanks," Rogue answered shortly. "You two seem to be havin' a pleasant conversation about me, so Ah'll just leave. After all, isn't that the point of talkin' behind someone's back?"

There were a few seconds in which it seemed as though everything stopped. Then, Logan said, "Rogue—"

She didn't say anything. She just turned on her heel and stalked out of the kitchen.

Logan snapped out of his chair and went after her. "Rogue!" He called.

She didn't answer, or even stop walking.

"Rogue! Hold on!" He tried.

She still didn't stop.

He was getting fed-up with this. He managed to catch up to her when they were in the main hallway, where the stairs led up to the second story. Since he knew she wouldn't stop for anything, he grabbed her by the wrist and jerked her towards him.

"Let go of me!" She snapped, trying to twist out of his grasp.

"No!" He growled. "We need to talk…now!"

"Why don't ya go talk to Shaina?" She mocked. "Maybe you can tell her more about me! Did ya tell her about how mah powers freaked out last year? That one's golden!"

"Rogue, I'm sorry! We shouldn't have talked behind your back!"

"Why would you do that?!" She shrieked. "You were the last person who ah thought would do somethin' like that to me!"

"She just started sayin' how it seemed like you were the only one in the institute who wasn't nice, and I told her that you had a reason to act the way you do! So she asked what is what is was, and that's when I told her about you! It's not like we sat down and said, 'Hey, let's talk about Rogue!'!

"HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF AH TOLD HER ABOUT SHIELD?!" Rogue demanded.

"I'D BE ANGRY, BUT I'M NOT THE ONE WHO'S BEEN ACTING LIKE A B**** LATELY!" He shouted, matching her tone. Rogue flinched, Logan thought he could see a tear forming up in her eyes. He immediately realized that he shouldn't have cursed at her, but he just had to let this out.

"OH, SO THAT'S WHAT YA THINK, HUH?! I HEARD SHAINA CALL ME A 'BE-YATCH' BUT NOT WHAT YOU SAID!"

"YOU'RE TWISTIN' THIS AROUND, AND YOU KNOW IT! AND ANYWAY, SINCE WHEN DO YOU EAVESDROP?!"

"AH WASN'T EAVESDROPPING! AH CAME DOWN TO THE KITCHEN FOR SOMETHING TO DRINK, AND AH JUST OVERHEARD YOU! BUT AH SUPPOSE AH'M SUPPOSED TO BELIEVE THAT ALL THIS IS MAH FAULT!"

"BECAUSE IT IS YOUR FAULT! MAYBE IF YOU DIDN'T ACT LIKE A WET CAT TOWARDS SHAINA, THEN THIS WHOLE THING WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED!"

"HOW COME SHAINA'S GETTING' OFF SCOTT-FREE?!"

"SHE'S NOT! I'LL TALK TO HER, TOO!"

Logan was suddenly aware that Jean, Keri, Kitty, Amara, and Bobby had gathered at the top of the stairs and were watching his 'exchange' with Rogue. "What're you five starin' at?" He growled at them. He turned back to Rogue. "I'm sorry that I made you angry, alright?!"

"NO, IT'S NOT ALRIGHT! NOW LET GO OF ME, BEFORE AH MAKE YOU!"

Logan realized that all she had to was to turn her hand a bit, and she could touch his bare arm, which would activate her power. This, teamed with the fact that he wasn't interested in having a shouting match with her at 2:00 A.M., made him decide to give up. Reluctantly, he released her.

She gave him a nasty look, and the stormed up to her room. Jean, Keri, Kitty, Amara, and Bobby watched her come up the stairs, and hurried to get out of her way. Then, they turned to him, an amazed look on their faces.

Logan didn't feel like dealing with this right now, so he said to them, "You guys, go to bed! You've got school today."

Immediately, the group broke out in whispers:

"What happened?"

"Why were they yelling at each other?"

"He must've been a total jerk if they were yelling like that!"

"GO TO BED!!" Logan roared, so loudly that (everyone could swear) the chandelier above their heads shook.

This got their attention, apparently, because the students charged back to their rooms as quickly as possible.

For a minute, Logan just stood there, holding his forehead in one of his hands. He didn't blame Rogue for being angry at him, but on the other hand, wasn't she overreacting just a bit?

Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice inside of his head. Logan, what's going on?!

Nothin', Charles Logan thought in reply.

That's got to be the loudest nothing I've ever heard.

Rogue and I just had a frank exchange of ideas. That's all. Logan brushed some of his hair out of his face.

Logan— The Professor began, but Logan cut him off.

It's NOTHING, Charles. I'm tired, I'm going to bed.

It's really not smart to lie to someone who's telepathic, you know.

Well, if you can read my mind, then you know I don't want to talk about it right now! Just go read her mind!

I just want to know—

I'LL TALK TO YOU IN A FEW HOURS, CHARLES. Now, leave me alone! With that defiant thought, he fumed back to the kitchen, where he met up with Shaina again.

"Something tells me I don't want to know what that was all about," She said as she put their milk glasses in the dishwasher.

"Ya know how she didn't like you before?" He asked.

"Uh-huh."

"Well, it seems to me that she hates you now, and she really hates me." Once again, Logan held his forehead in one of his hands. This time, though, he was wondering how everything had just gotten screwed up.