Hey guys ! totally buzzin' over the amount of interest this little fic of min has been gettin' - 5 seemed like a nice round number so i'll answer each review so far at the end! congrats to Rowena DeVandal for being my 1000th hit and also my 10th review! wohoo !
CHAPTER 5. - Awakenings
Rogue shifted slightly in her chair, ears just picking up the sounds of raised voices coming from the hallway over the slow gentle recurring blip blip blip of the monitors, and sighed - sometimes, she mused, the wolverine in him was too predictable. Brushing a stray platinum lock back behind her ear, the thought occured to her that the med lab was also starting to become their second home.
Hearing the hiss of the door lock and the lone set of footsteps, Rogue was entirely unsurprised to find Logan assuming the position of the chair next to her. He stretched his legs out, arms crossed, a sour look on his face. Seeing the deep frown, she ventured after a moment
" You wanna talk about it ? "
He snorted, eyes not leaving the prone form in front of them.
" Ah'll take that as ah no, then "
The raised eyebrow over his still feral look answered her question, as he turned his face to acknowledge her. Impulsively, she grinned and pointed at him.
" Wow ... You know Logan, from this angle? it looks like you've superglued Ah couple ah' mating catepillars over your eyes "
It had the desired effect. - Logan briefly looked confused, then annoyed; before rubbing his hand over forehead growling slightly before trying to hide his lopsided grin from her.
Hank, watching this exchange over the tops of his glasses, couldnt help but smile at the pair of them, shaking his head slightly. Everyone else gave the Wolverine a wide berth, but not her - Rogue just jumped in there with both feet, completely unafraid; and the beast in him always backed down. If he had a way with her, then she certainly knew how to deal with him.
perhaps thats what binds them together
Hank smiled, and lowered his eyes back to the microscope.
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The long room was darkened, overshadowing the figure in the high-backed chair waiting patiently by the window; the glowing red-point of his cigarette illuminating but momentarily as he took a long drag, drawing the smoke down into his lungs before breathing out, letting it curl up and away, dissapating in the cool air. The flashing light of the call proved they did not have long to wait.
Flicking a switch, the flat screen before him flashed into life.
"Status report"
"Yes'sir" The sopping wet soldier on screen leaned in close, attempting to yell to make himself heard over the din of the rain thundering down upon the canvas tent. "We've picked up the tracking signal and located the vehical - but its already been destroyed. Both occupants are dead, Sir."
"Any sign of the package ?"
"No'sir, not yet. Perimeter's been set up, I got team's scouring the area as we speak. She can't have got far "
The shadowed figure held up a finger infront of the camera "One moment" and muted the transmission. Turning to face the woman reclining in the chair on the opposite side of the desk, nervousness rolled off him in waves as he watched her tap her fingers thoughtfully along the leather arm rest. "Well ?"
She cleared her throat purposefully, meeting his gaze. "How long ?"
"An hour, at most"
Pausing for a moment, head tilted, she rejoined his gaze and shook her head "Call them back"
"You're sure?"
Already on her feet with a narrowed backwards glance as her aide opened the door "She's already gone. Dont waste my time. Call them back. "
"Yes, ma'am" Already on it, he ordered them back and ended the transmission as she proceeded to walk out the door. He sighed in relief. But just then, another thought occured to her, and she pivoted on her heel, turning around. He looked up from tidying the desk as she called out sweetly
"Oh, and one more thing ?"
Rather than interrupt, instead he waited polietly for her to continue.
The muzzle flash of the silenced gun momentarily lit the room, reflecting in his shocked glassy expression as he slid lifeless to the floor, dark blood already seeping onto the thick carpet
"I don't appreciate failure"
Without looking, she held the gun out to the side, handing it to her aide; who swiftly moved up beside her, for fear of incurring her wrath. Turning slightly, she eyed the young man infront of her, noting the lack of skittishness or interest in her actions, and smiled the same gracious sweet smile, placing a soft hand on his arm almost reassuringly as if nothing untoward had happened "Consider yourself promoted "
Looking back at the body, she added " Now. Get this mess cleaned up. And find me that mutant "
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Logan had slipped out, full of intentions to get them some coffee, but Rogue knew what he really was after was a smoke - so she didnt expect him back any time soon. Hank was still busy across the other side of the lab, analysing whatever test results he had already run; on her own with the stranger in the quiet room, Rogue started humming a tune under her breath to keep herself awake - finding the slow rhythmic bleeping of the machines and the dull ticking of the clock were slowly lulling her already tired body to sleep.
Eyes closed and head slowly nodding its way down towards her chest, the abrupt change in frequency snapped her awake. " Uhhh... Doc ?" she called out, uncertainly as the grip on her hand suddenly increased.
Hank approached his patient cautiously, taking in the increasing heart rate, blood pressure, the intermittent warnings of the machines. A faint sheen of sweat had appeared on her brow, and she began to moan under her breath, moving around sluggishly as if trapped in a nightmare she was unable to wake from. " Rogue ..." he said warningly, waving the young woman from her side.
"Ah cant " her hand was open, fingers spread wide, only now Hank could see it was the stranger on the table who now had ahold on her; muscles in her arm tensed so hard the knuckles were white and Rogue could not let go.
The incessant beeping of the machinery grew louder and louder, her heart rate increasing ten fold, warning lights lighting up across the boards as the young woman began to convulse on the table. Hank atttempted to pin her down one-handed as best as possible, reaching for a syringe full of clear liquid on the instruments table, when she gave a loud gasp, spine curved upwards at a sickening angle her whole body tensed and shaking, before abruptly collapsing back, relinquishing her hold on rogue who fell away from the table with a cry.
The monitor gave off a single, long-drawn out continuous tone.
Rogue, back up against the wall in shock, found herself unable to move. Hank, eyes widening, became a flurry of activity; unhooking her from the machines even as he flipped the switch to charge the defibulator, smearing conductive gel across the metal surface of the pads. He gritted his teeth, poised above her limp body, the two paddles in hand
"Stand Clear"
Abruptly, the strangers eyes flew open. Instinctively lashing out, she kicked the two paddles from Hank's hands while managing to dive aside, knocking aside the tray of instruments and half the machinery as she did so - it crashing and clattering around her. Backing up and away from the blue furry creature, Rogue could see her eyes darting from side to side in blind panic looking for an exit. The hiss of the door opening as Logan sauntered in, coffee's in hand, gave her enough of a chance to vault the already downed table and slip by him, knocking him sideways against the doorframe as she went, even as Rogue found her voice and yelled after her "WAIT !"
Running into the hallway infront of Logan and Hank, Marie ran full pelt after the fleeing form, seeing her instinctively run into the lift as the circular metal door opened, striking her fists against the rear wall before spinning around as she realised there was no exit. Logan was yelling something furiously behind them, but Rogue didnt have the time to make him out, so intent on reaching the lift before the door closed.
Throwing herself through the rapidly decreasing opening, she just managed to slid inside the lift, slamming into the rear wall head first even as the others reached them, the door sliding closed and sealing, shutting them out. They both flinched at the sound of Logan impacting against the other side, howling his fury. Reaching up shakily, Rogue pulled herself to her feet, fingers finding the concealed button which froze the lift's progress and left the pair of them suspended where they were, trapped in a metallic cylinder between floors.
Rogue lifted her head as she found her feet, finding the furious eyes of the woman now confined in there with her fixed inflinchingly upon her, already poised to strike out, a purely animal mixture of terror and absolute fury blazing out of her pale orbs.
" Oh, boy ... " she breathed, suddenly wondering what the hell she'd flung herself into.
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Right-ho ! 5th chapter up an done peeps sorry for the wait :) now, to answer those reviews so far !
joegood2003 - cheers for the encouragement glad you're likin' Logan so far ! I've got good real-life inspiration for him :) yep, marie was kinda timid in the first chapter, it ended up comin out that way in relation to I was unsure of how heavy to take the whole bobby/marie attack line of thinking ... think it works out well though, just need to see some more chapters to explain that whole situation a bit more! dont want to give too much away ...
Zarek - glad you're enjoying it, the whole bobby/rogue thing gets explained a little more in later chapters ive given clues so far to an apparent change in bobby as a whole, so hang on in there a bit longer and you'll get your explanation:)
sheisbeautiful - sheisnotme - I must say, I was absolutely chuffed to pieces by your comments on the way I've tried to differenciate between the charcters, glad to see you enjoy my style of writing so far! and anyhoo ... even if you are already on the dark side there's always cookies !
Gemrosa - indeedy ! tho the wolvie retribution comes a little later on hope you enjoy it when it arrives !
PrettyBean - glad you liked the start, hopefully the rest is up to par. And I promise nothing in relation to attempting to rein in the wolverine ... have to wait an see how that all works out! wohoo:)
shiny34 - its all a big tease so far, hope your patience holds out ! an explanation shall commence REAL soon for bobby ... as for the kidnapped woman, it'll all fall into place ...
Teri Neko - glad you're enjoyin it so far, hopefully I'll continue to surprise you all !
Leash - Dont panic, Rogue doesnt get sidelined :)
IcedBlaze - every comment good or bad is appreciated, sorry if it wasnt apparent enough but yes, i do realise that xavier was killed off in X3 however if you managed to see the last scene after the credits it shows the coma patient from earlier (the lesson scene) in the movie awakening - only it is Xavier's voice greeting Moira McTaggert, the attending doctor. Its meant to show he transferred his conciousness to another human. In the first chapter, when I had ororo and him converse I tried to explain the twist I wanted to make, whereas his original body reappeared in the same place that the phoenix destroyed him, thus transferring him back to his own being. Sorry my friend if it wasnt clear hopefully thats tidied that loose end up for you. hope you enjoy the rest of the story, glad you took the time to give me feedback !
Rowena DeVandal - Ahh so glad I've got your attention ! hope you enjoy the story as it progresses!
thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read this fic, 'special thanks go out to all who've reviewed ! keep up the good work and hopefully I wont keep you all on tenderhooks for too long ... mebbe ... :)
