Author's Note: I am trying to pick up the pace of the story a little bit but its hard cause I like character building. Anyways after this chapter I promise to try harder. Thanks again for the reviews! They keep me writing. Sorry this one is short but the next chapter should be up soonish.
He stood in the shadows, just out of reach of the moonlight spilling onto her face. Her soft skin glowed in the beam of light coming in from her picture window. She was simply beautiful.
Like some great western classic, "Dead or alive" were the only instructions given to Pyro.
Dead was too easy, anyone could do that, Pyro thought.
He had almost accomplished that already, but there had been no challenge, so he had eased up and allowed the drooling wild dog to pull her out of the fire.
Marie had been such an unstable girl when he saw her last, no doubt those insecurities still existed. Her brave shell was definitely going to be hard to penetrate but everyone has their breaking point. She could be his. And if not, then killing would still be a final option.
Logan lay awake in bed watching the moon dodge clouds out his window. He considered the events of the day and how desperate he had felt waiting for Marie to wake up in the Med Lab. He also thought about the days, weeks, months since he had watched Marie land the Blackbird for her first time back at Alkali Lake. She had been so terrified but yet determined to save her teammates.
When Jean had died and Logan wasn't sure what he was supposed to feel. He had so long focused his flirting on Jean. Other than Marie and Xavier (although it was probably part of his job description – "Powerful X-Man founder must love all creatures and welcome them into his home"), Jean was the only one who ever really welcomed him into the mansion. She had been kind and warm and almost made him feel like a part of the X-Men.
Logan was sad Jean was gone. They had had a fun flirty relationship and could have been great friends. But Logan wasn't torn up. At first he thought maybe he was just cold-hearted and that he had just single handedly proved Striker right; he was nothing more than a beast, before and after the claws. After Jean's funeral, he became convinced that he was clearly a man who cared about no one but himself. All he could think about was what and who he still had around him. Almost everyday of the last six months, Logan thought about how lucky it was Jean had been able to save the others. He also decided that he was thankful it hadn't been Marie. However each time he felt thankful, an automatic pang of guilt struck him for being able to dismiss Jean's death so easily. What gave him the right to choose one life over another? How could he place value on the lives of others, enough to line them up in order of priority? These questions plagued him with guilt, especially at night, when he was away from the mansion.
Suddenly the creaks of the floorboards peaked his attention. Someone was walking down the hall, near Marie's room, attempting to be quiet but failing miserably at it. Logan glanced over at his clock. 3am was probably too late (or early) for students to be sneaking around in each others rooms. Who would be visiting Marie? Scooter wasn't that dumb, was he?
Logan slipped out of bed, and carefully poked his head out his door to see John open Marie's door and slip inside. Logan arched his eyebrow and considered two options. He could burst into her room, claws extended, probably scare the crap out everyone, and end up getting Marie hurt but hopefully skewer John at the same time. Or, he could wait and see if John even decides to charbroil her like a steak, and take the risk of having to dust off the ashes later, once it was too late. Neither option was appealing to him. Maybe Scooter was right; he was being irrational and should give John the benefit of the doubt. Then again, something about that kid just didn't sit right. Definitely time to burst into her room.
Just as Logan had made up his mind to bombard Marie's room, John came back out into the hall. While he quietly shut her door, Logan had already positioned himself behind him.
"It's a little late to go apologize to her, don't you think?" Logan growled.
John was clearly startled and would have jumped out of his skin if he hadn't tried instead to cover it up and play tough.
"It's a little late to be playing big bad guard wolf, don't you think?" John recovered quickly.
"What are you doing John?" Logan was clearly mad. He hands were balled up into fists as he towered over John. He was probably the most intimidating man who had ever stood in front of John wearing nothing but flannel pyjama bottoms.
"It's Pyro. And I was just checking on Rogue. But I don't have to answer to you, so why don't you kick yourself out of the mansion, and go howl at the moon instead." John said dryly.
Logan's eyes narrowed. Yup, he definitely didn't like this guy. "Sure kid, or maybe you were trying to roast her like a marshmallow again, but I guess I'll never know. Either way, I'm watching you bub, and if you so much as blink the wrong way, I'll turn you into a shish kabob! Goodnight John."
John was really angry now but he had to control it. Although Logan seemed to be nothing more than a pain in the ass, Pyro had been warned that he could ruin everything. Clearly the man was waiting for Pyro to go to bed, so he did, grudgingly.
Logan waited and watched as John took the hint and went back to his own room. Once John's door was shut, Logan carefully opened Marie's room and entered.
Marie was still sleeping peacefully; the rhythm of her breathing was deep and calm. Logan approached her bed and made sure she was untouched. Her skin was pale blue under the watch of the moon, and Logan was once again reminded of how astoundingly beautiful she was. When he was satisfied that John had caused her no harm, he sat down in the big sofa chair by her window. There he waited for the sun to rise.