Sych77: Yup, Logan's mad, he's gonna go put her in her place! I think I'm on his side too, lol, although I did think the previous scene was amusing. Well, I didn't make him comfort her because I thought it seems more like Logan to storm out of there and have a go at Aurora (shrug) seems more like his personality to me, especially when he's annoyed like that.
Kimenomi: I'm sorry! There's no specific reason why it took so long.. but it's probably because I am trying to get all my A level coursework in by next week, and if I don't I've probably failed. And what do you mean 'If Aurora is so poor and pitiful' I've never said that, or portrayed her like that, I don't see where you're coming from on that one. Although I can say the reason Aurora decided to upset Madeline was probably because she is Logan's daughter, Aurora's got a vindictive streak in her too! She's said she's fine with Madeline, but inside, you never know.
Blix: Hehe, yes, it was rather cruel, but it was an amusing scene, and reveals some of Aurora's feelings to Madeline. Of course, why didn't she just sit there and let the girl pass? Why purposely look threatening and frighten her? I like the idea of Logan bossing Gambit around too! I'm looking forward to these training sessions, although Gambit is not going to behave well, I'll tell you that now. (waves a 'Logan Loyalty' flag)
Don't forget to vote on the new poll! www(dot)freewebs(dot)com/thell
Chapter 35Four soft padded black paws drifted lightly through the grass as Aurora gently walked her feline body along the bottom of the lawns, trailing the hedges idly as she watched the grounds ahead of her. She had looked back to see that Gambit had departed from the spot of shade under the large tree, and with that knowledge she turned to continue walking in silence, feeling a little lonely now after her laughter and frolics in comparison to her silent walking. However, she wasn't going to feel lonely for long, her head snapped up to see a very peeved looking Wolverine come stalking across the grass with clenched fists that swung by his hips slowly. He didn't look at all happy, and Aurora could guess why.
Well, it was either Madeline or Gambit, probably both.
She decided to feign nonchalance and pretend she didn't notice the heavy boots thumping towards her. She idly dropped down on her front, stretching out in the gently warm grass. She closed her eyes, continuing to act as if she wasn't aware of his oncoming body.
He suddenly let out a bark, "Aurora!"
She opened an eye lazily and calmly made a faint noise in her throat in response.
Logan continued none the less, now stood in front of the laying panther with his thick arms folded tightly across his chest, "Could you leave the exercises to the training sessions and not to the public lawns and clawing at my daughter!"
The way his voice raged, she could distinctly get the impression that he wasn't pleased. However, her face consorted into a frown, which on a panther's face was a snarl. Immediately, her head tossed back and before Logan could blink she was standing up quickly off the floor without so much of a stumble as she rose with feline grace as the black fur faded from her soft skin, "I have no idea what you mean," came her calm answer, hands resting on her hips gently.
"For God's sake, don't lie Aurora, Madeline came runnin' in scared out of her mind. It's not funny playin' jokes like that on people."
"Odd," said Aurora, her voice turning oddly cold, "I remember a time when you and I would laugh together at things like that."
Logan's arms unfolded, only to let him run a hand uneasily through his hair before his arms fell limply by his side, "Well, things have changed."
"Oh, I know," said Aurora in a displeased sounding voice, "I know all too well, ever since she arrived."
"Don't go blaming Madeline – "
"It's not just her," said Aurora, voice becoming less gentle, "But since the day Roxanne arrived, things for us have been going from bad to worse and you know it!"
But Logan's growl swiftly returned, "You can't blame them for your infidelity issues!"
"No, but I can blame them for pushing me in that direction!" It was the first time Aurora had not denied her lack of faithfulness. And it caused Logan to stop and stare with glaring eyes. "Why are we having this argument," growled Aurora, "I thought this ended in the Amazon, can we move on?"
"It seems you already have," said Logan bitterly as he turned away, uttering only saying a faint, "The training session starts tomorrow."
Storm walked calmly through the silver corridors of the underground levels as she headed for the furthest room along the corridor, the Danger Room. This room was normally used for computerised training sessions, but Logan was using the floor space beyond the entrance platform to exercise since it was a large area. However foreboding the reasons were for this extra training, she couldn't help but feel a shiver of excitement at the prospect of this training session. She couldn't remember the last time they had all trained together; it was usually alone on the computerised Danger Room. They hadn't trained together since Jean died..
Another thing was that Logan had never actually attended a training session with the others. Nobody had kicked up a fuss about it, it was understandable. Though Scott complained for the first few weeks but in the end, like everyone else, he accepted that Logan didn't really need to strengthen himself up. But Storm was sure Logan had trained alone, she had seen him walking through the corridors, early mornings and late nights with his vest cladded body gleaming in sweat from what could only be some form of dynamic exercise.
And then, when Jean died, all of a sudden, there were no more group sessions. Nobody questioned why.
So, she was in high spirits to be attending one today, the only thing that was rather off-putting what Logan teaching them. Whilst she knew he wasn't as cruel as he looked, he would probably put them vigorously through their paces.
Storm came open the large circular door to the Danger Room, it was set in the wall at the other end of the corridor to Cerebro, and had the same silver 'X 'emblazoned majestically on the door. However, entry was by keypad alone, no DNA checking methods used here. She walked up to the door slowly, pressed in the four-digit code before she watched the doors part to let her through. She entered across the metallic flooring slowly, looking beyond the computerised set-up and glass separators to see the large floor spread out below the entrance platform. She could see that Logan was there already, dressed in the specific X-Men exercising outfits which included a white vest top not unlike the one he slept in, only it had an black 'X' encircled in the top right hand corner, and a pair of black tracksuit bottoms, these too displaying the 'X' logo, only in white, on the top of the right thigh.
Typically, Logan was barefooted.
As Storm's shoes sounded on the metallic flooring, Logan looked up slowly across to her, relaxing out of what had been a stretching exercise consisting of him balancing on one leg with the other bent, foot sole against his straight knee, "Hey Ororo," he murmured quietly, giving a idle stretch of his arms, "You're the first here."
In response Storm gave him a gentle smile, "Do you have a good lesson planned, Logan?" she asked, curious to know.
"That would be tellin'," said Logan with a sly smile developing over his lips, "You'll find out soon enough."
"Don't we need some floor mats out?" said Storm idly as she turned to look over the metallic room. She heard no response from Logan so looked round to discover why. He was just starting at her with an unimpressed face, "What?"
"Yeah, Ororo, out there when we're fighting, those Sentinels are going to make sure you got a soft landing instead of the walls."
Storm sighed quietly, shaking her head at him, "No need for that attitude Logan," she said scoldingly.
For a moment, Logan shared a meaningful gaze with Storm before he lowered his head apologetically, "Sorry," he muttered quietly. He moved off the topic as he returned his eyes upon her, looking her figure up and down for a moment like she was some disfigured abnormality.
"What?" said Storm again, folding her arms.
"This won't do," said Logan, gesturing to her outfit, "You need to go and change into the training gear."
With a nod, Storm turned away and lightly jogged up the steps, "All right, give me a moment," and she turned to exit through the parting doors and head for the Uniform foyer so she could dress in the changing rooms.
Within the next ten minutes a small group were stood before Logan each dressed in their matching X-Men training gear. The female clothing too had white vest tops and jogging bottoms. Logan folded his bulky arms over his chest as he scanned over the group slowly. Everybody was present, except Gambit. He let a low snort through his nose; he'd deal with Gambit later.
He had been stood mulling over how to punish Gambit whilst the others warmed up. He glanced up slowly to see the group of four ready and he made a surly expression at them. No smiles now. "First of all," he began, raising his voice loud enough for it to reverberate around the metal walls, "we shall be trying hand to hand combat – without our mutations." There was a ripple of scepticism sounding through the small group and Logan flashed them all a steely glare. His eyes happened upon Siren, who had chosen to wear her usual pistol holsters, low over her hips. "And no weaponry, Siren, remove your guns."
Siren unfastened the holsters with a French mutter escaping her lips, probably not all that complimentive towards the Wolverine as she walked across the Danger Room floor to deposit them safely at the side again the wall. There were some benches sat there with various items, including water bottles and four pairs of trainers – Logan had told them to remove their footwear.
Once she returned, Logan cast a glance over the four X-Men, "Now, let us begin."
The lesson had been going for just under an hour, and Logan had conveniently split off the even pairs to allow them to combat against each other. The smaller numbers meant it was a lot easier for him to keep an eye out. However, all of a sudden he heard a surprised yelp and saw that Aurora had fallen on her front on the floor with her hands grasped behind her back in a one-handed grab by Storm, who was pressing one knee upon the other female's back to keep her there. Aurora looked far from impressed.
Logan hadn't taught anything quite like that today. He smirked faintly to Storm who was still keeping Aurora successfully pinned, "Good move," he complimented to Storm, giving Aurora a mischievous smirk, glad to see her not laughing for once.
"Thank you, Logan," responded Storm politely who gently removed her limbs from Aurora before extending her palm to the other woman to help her off the floor. But Aurora ignored the offered hand and stood up of her own accord, tossing her tied black hair behind her back with an angry snarl in her throat.
"Now now, Aurora," continued Logan with the smirk still on his face, "This is all about learning."
Storm sighed at the negative response she was receiving from Aurora, "I'm sorry, all right? It was just my natural reaction."
"Then good reflexes," praised Logan with a grin to Storm. He turned his head to see how Scott and Siren were getting on, and was shocked to see the pair practically wrestling each other on the floor. "What the hell are you doing?" he abruptly barked. In this new role he was like that of a sergeant, which gave some of the X-Men reasons to believe he did something similar before his memory was erased.
"It looks like it's getting personal," commented Storm quietly as she saw Siren make a grab for Scott's hair to push him face down on the floor.
"Ah!" came a cry from Scott, who managed a muffled, "Siren is taking this too seriously!" whilst his cheek was jammed flat upon the floor, "Wolverine, get her off me!"
Logan obligingly stepped forward to hook his arms under Siren's shoulders and hoisted her up off the flattened Scott. Siren made a gasp for air, tossing her head angrily as her eyes flashed viciously. There was a wild smirk on her face. "We're practising hitting and blocking, not brawling," said Logan as he released the woman. She was enjoying herself far too much. Logan shook his head to himself, "Right, let's call it a day. Let's just see if you got the basics of the hitting and blocking then we can all go shower. You go first Ororo."
Storm nodded her head once before turning to Aurora, giving the woman a meaningful look of apology before she ducked, side stepped, and sent a strike with a hand. Aurora successfully blocked the first hit, but as it was countered, Storm's other hand came out of nowhere and touched Aurora on the side of her neck, not done forcefully, but if Storm had placed any strength behind it, it would have immediately knocked Aurora to the ground.
Instantly Aurora looked scandalised. "One hit, not two!"
"Enemies are never going to tell you for what they might do, Aurora," said Logan quietly, "So prepare for anything." Logan jerked his thumb to Storm, "Return the hit."
Aurora narrowed her eyes, already in a foul mood after her dispute with Logan yesterday, and Storm for having expertise in the hand-to-hand combat - it not helping matters. So, Aurora struck her hand forward before delivering a back slap with her hand to try and wind Storm across the middle. Storm grabbed her first hand, and whilst Aurora tried with the second hit, she was pulled around and instead found her arms locked behind her back again. Suddenly, realising she was immobilised by the woman behind her, Aurora let out a horrified cry.
But Logan didn't give chance for Aurora to explain or protest; he nodded to Scott for his turn. Scott cast Siren a worried expression since the woman was still glaring at him through wildly strewn strands of blond hair whilst she breathed with a snarl in her breath. She was going to beat him at this, he knew it, she was a thief, and she had street expertise. He aimed a punch, her palm easily stopped it. She tried for an attack, but Scott blocked it with a sudden rise of his arm to slap it away, he tried for a lower strike, she ducked and easily smacked his oncoming arm away. Scott straightened with a gentle increase on his breathing rate, turning his head to Logan; neither of them had managed to hit the other.
"Siren," instructed Logan, watching carefully.
"Shit," said Scott quietly, since Siren looked ready to pounce on him again. Her attacks were lightening-quick. Scott felt a few hit him, but he also felt his palms block some. He staggered back out hitting range with a dazed sort of expression. A lot had just happened very quickly.
Logan glanced across the four mutants, nodding his head slowly, "Better than before," he said encouraging, "But, of course, we need more training sessions, we can work on it."
As the X-Men turned to gratefully leave for their showers, Logan spotted Gambit leaning in the doorway of the Danger Room, on the inside alcove. He had his arms folded over his chest, clothed in his usual attire of brown trench coat and ripped faded jeans. The Cajun had a large smirk on his face and called mockingly through the air, "Aw, did y'all have a nice time with Mr. Wolvie? Sorry, I mean sir; he's a teacher now ain't he?" He continued to insult from afar, all the while a disdainful slant of his brow sent his eyes burning into Logan. The X-Men climbed up the few steps of the platform slowly, each bearing an apprehensive expression that this insulting could soon possibly turn into another fight. They were already exhausted; they wouldn't be able to easily separate the duo.
However, Logan calmly pushed on through the X-Men, reaching the platform first and talking slow steps towards Gambit. Gambit narrowed his eyes all the more as Logan came closer. He glanced at Logan up and down, taking in every inch of the large growling mutant, who was holding a fierce glare from beneath spiked strands of sweat slicked hair.
Surprisingly enough, Logan's next words were calm, but the content clearly wasn't pleasant, "You know that punch I gave you?" he asked Gambit, giving a haughty toss of his head to send the sticking fringe off his forehead.
"What punch?" asked Gambit, his expression fading as he looked clearly confused.
All of a sudden, Logan had lurched back his arm and driven it forward in the air. It cuffed Gambit across the cheek, knocking the man against the large circular door with a clang. "That punch," continued Logan calmly after the metallic reply of the door.
"Argh!" Gambit's hand flung to his face immediately, clutching where he was struck, "Damn you, ya hairy fleabag!"
Logan turned to the door, pressing the black button on the wall, "Well, you could have countered it and blocked it if you had attended the training session," he answered in the same calm tone. The large silver 'X' of the door parted, causing Gambit to stumble upright as he got up off the moving metal partitioning.
Out of the opened doors Logan stalked, heading to the Uniform foyer to shower and change. The X-Men followed through, glancing nervously to Gambit as they passed. They didn't say anything however - because they knew, that actually, Logan was right.
Thank you for reading! Hope you liked this chapter - please review for me!
www(dot)freewebs(dot)/thell