"kicking the tires"

"So let me get this straight," he began slowly, looking at her with a visibly skeptical look on her face, ignoring the shouted jeers of the crowd, "you want me to fight you?"

Rogue popped her gum and leaned back against the cage, feigning disinterest despite the racing of her heart. "Yeah." She flicked her gaze over him, hoping to continue the charade of her attitude. "My Momma always told me to pick on people bigger'n me. Only way to keep it fair."

The man, Wolverine they'd called him, grinned broadly. "You're a spunky little thing, I'll give you that much."

She grinned back and tried not to think of how aggravated Xavier was going to be when they got back to the mansion. Not that she really should have worried. He was the one doing double duty as Watcher and the Mutant Martin Luther King. If his Slayer got mixed up and kicked a little Mutant ass from time to time...well, she was just a lil' ol' girl it wasn't her fault now was it. "You'll give me more than that." She nodded toward the prize money. "I've got plans for that."

"Don't make plans you can't keep." He stalked forward, the crowd roaring with approval. "Bad habit to get into."

When he threw his first punch, she ducked quickly beneath and reached back to grab his wrist, pulling him with her. He was surprisingly heavy and she was sure that was more than bone she was holding on to. The boy'd had some work done. Oh well, heavier they were, the louder a smack they made when they hit.

Slamming him onto the mat, she grinned when the floor made a very satisfying cracking sound. "So, about those plans?"

He looked up with approval then moved. Vampire fast. Like a cat striking. Before she knew she was pressed up against the cage, his arm across her throat. "Mutant?" He rumbled out with interest.

"Not quite." She answered back, bringing a knee up. "My Momma always said hit 'em where they live."

He fell back, rolled and came up again. "You're not half bad at this kid, but you need some work, bit more training."

Rogue smiled, slow and lazy. "You offering?" She lunged, her leg hooking around his and sweeping them out from beneath him. "Cause, there's this guy…Xavier, he sent me up here," she pinned him and leaned in, "for you."

"And it's not even my birthday." He quipped, rolling them and pinning her. "What's he want with me…aside from sending me gifts of limber young women?"

"A job." She answered, looking up at him steadily.

"Rogue?"

She looked over at Cyclops' wary voice and smiled cheerfully. "This one will do."

finis