Author's note: Thank you to Owlix and kmj1989 for the reviews! I'm glad you guys enjoyed Raven getting taken down a peg. I did too, haha. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, with Raven acting like a petulant child and some bonding time between Logan and Roxanne. I think it's both sweet and characteristically Logan. I hope I struck the right balance here. Thank you to everyone who reads this, and extra special thanks to those who take the time to review!

Speaking of Blood

Hank has to fight every instinct within him while he watches his- girlfriend? Prospective sweetheart?- run out of the Danger Room. Both the feral and more evolved sides of his nature want to follow her, to make sure she's alright following that confrontation.

But duty wins out by a very narrow margin.

He rises to his feet, glancing at the other X-Men as he does. Their expressions range from undisguised glee (Peter) to a newfound, if slightly begrudging, respect (Ororo). None of them- except Peter, of course- have ever managed to land a hit on Raven, and Roxanne just easily dodged several blows, shrugged off a hit, and countered with ease.

The X-Men are obviously impressed by her raw abilities- as is Hank, actually. He can only imagine what she'll be capable of once she's had some training.

"Hank, man," Peter says, breaking the silence. "If you don't marry that girl, I totally will."

Hank gives him an irritated frown. Raven, meanwhile, looks like she would happily skin the silver-haired man alive if she could see straight at the moment. Instead she glowers at him lopsidedly, thanks to the grotesque swelling around her eye.

"Raven, please accompany me to the infirmary so we can get you taken care of," Hank says calmly. "The rest of you, please wait here. We'll be back shortly."

The silence between himself and Raven as they exit the Danger Room and pass through the hall to the infirmary is heavy with unspoken accusations and rage. Raven is absolutely livid, and Hank knows it's only a matter of time before the storm breaks.

Sure enough-

"There's no way she's joining this team."

Hank ignores this at first. He busies himself with gathering a washcloth and an icepack. After a perfunctory, clinical examination he determines that there's likely a fracture in Raven's cheekbone- nothing that ice and Tylenol can't cure. He hands her the cloth-covered icepack, gestures to her face, and grabs some anti-inflammatories.

"I disagree," he finally says, offering the pills. "I think Roxanne would be an asset. You saw how fast she is. She's strong, and she heals almost instantaneously. Imagine what she could do with some training, Raven."

"No."

"And why not?" Hank demands. "Give me a valid reason."

"I don't have to tell you my reasons," Raven petulantly retorts.

He rolls his eyes. "You'd do well to remember that I'm a leader on this team, too," he says, his tone getting a little testy. "Let's discuss this like adults. Roxanne is-"

"-Your new obsession, I know. Just because you have the hots for her doesn't mean-"

"My personal feelings for Roxanne have nothing to do with this," Hank says defensively. "She's strong, fast, and her-"

"-Tits are perfect."

"Raven, enough!" he snaps, finally losing his patience. He's had plenty of provocation at this point, he feels. "Stop deflecting and just be objective for once, will you? Roxanne obviously has plenty of raw talent, and you can't even argue that I would be over-protective towards her after what just happened between you. I didn't interfere, did I?"

That's not to say he didn't want to- far from it, in fact. Every instinct had been screaming at him to step in, to protect the feral woman from harm during her showdown with Raven. He only refrained from intervening by sternly reminding himself that his interference would only vindicate Raven's claims about Roxanne and himself.

"She has no respect at all."

Hank snorts derisively at this and offers her a glass of water. "If it's respect you're looking for, you won't find it in the X-Men," he tells her. "Roxanne was right- none of the others respect you because of the way you treat them. They only follow your orders because they fear you mocking and belittling them, not because they believe in you. They used to, but you killed that."

Raven looks disconcerted for a moment. Perhaps it hasn't occurred to her that her behavior has caused so much damage? Giving her utter lack of remorse for her more ridiculous actions in the past, it probably hasn't. Hank wonders if she would even care enough to change.

"What did you say to Roxanne, Raven?" he asks. "You provoked her, I know you did."

This question seems to amuse the blue woman, breaking into her self-reflection. "I told her to enjoy my sloppy seconds," she replies, with a vicious smirk.

It takes a great deal of effort for Hank to restrain himself from smacking the ice pack out of the shapeshifter's hands for her vindictive meddling in his new relationship. He hadn't mentioned his previous feelings for Raven to Roxanne as of yet- he's no relationship expert, but he knows it's much too early to be talking about past lovers at this point. Raven clearly said that just to stir the pot, in an attempt to make everyone else as miserable as she is.

"You did that just to be petty, for no real purpose other than to cause trouble and to hurt Roxanne. What has she done to you to deserve that? She feels sorry for you, you know," he observes quietly, after a monumental effort to control his anger and chagrin. "She said you must be lonely to act the way you do. Personally, I don't think you deserve her pity."

"Well I don't want Little Miss Perfect's pity," Raven spits out. "Look at you, all wrapped up in her like a besotted fool. Too blind to see any fault in her."

"You would know, wouldn't you?" Hank retorts. He lets out a long-suffering sigh. "What do you want from me, Raven? Do I like Roxanne? Yes, very much. She's sweet and kind and I enjoy talking to her. So far we have a lot in common, and I want to see what could grow between us. I also wouldn't be alive if it weren't for her, so forgive me if I put a lot of faith in her abilities. I've seen her in action first hand. She deserves a chance to prove herself."

A long, pregnant pause.

"Fine," Raven growls. "But if you ever go easy on her I swear I'll-"

Hank doesn't know how she finishes her threat, because he's already walking out and headed towards the Danger Room. He leaves her scrambling to catch up.

"Question, everyone," he begins upon his re-entrance. "By a show of hands, who here wants to give Roxanne a shot at joining the team?"

Peter and Kurt's hands shoot up immediately. Scott's follows, and then Jean's. Storm seems to raise her hand only reluctantly, but it's enough.

Raven arrives just as the vote is finished. She surveys them with her habitual scowl, but none of the others seem cowed by it anymore. If anything, Scott and Peter meet her critical gaze with defiance in their eyes, as if daring her to say something.

"Wonderful," Hank says. "I'll start making her a uniform."

Logan finds the kitchen using his sense of smell, determined to get something to eat. Between his muscular frame and feral metabolism he has to consume a lot of calories. Just one dinner isn't going to cut it.

He wanders into the darkened kitchen and flips on a light switch. He digs around in the refrigerator to find some of the leftovers from dinner and then turns to place them on the kitchen island's work surface-

Only to find Roxanne sitting on the other side of the island with a big bowl of chocolate ice cream.

"Jesus!" he gasps, taken slightly aback. "Roxanne- why are you sitting in the dark?"

She grins and gestures to her eyes, which Logan notices are slightly red. Has she been crying? "It's not dark to me," she replies, in a voice full of false cheer.

Logan grunts- he can see the logic in that. He occupies himself with making a plate, eyeing her carefully as he does so. Yeah, she was definitely crying before he came in here. The question is, why?

Whose ass do I need to kick?

"So what's with the ice cream?" he asks. "Boy trouble?"

Roxanne snorts. "No," she says tartly. "Can't a girl just enjoy some ice cream without there being a problem?"

"Well, yeah, but not an industrial-sized bowl of it."

She rolls her eyes. "Well, I think that your subjective measurement is completely off," she tells him, with a saucy toss of her head.

"Whatever you say, princess." Logan puts his plate in the microwave and turns to give her a speculative look. "You think they got beer in here somewhere?"

Roxanne stares at him. "It's a school, Logan," she replies. "I kinda doubt it."

"Yeah, I guess," he says with a sigh.

He stands there and watches her pick at her ice cream for a few minutes while his food warms up. Something's obviously bothering her, but if she's not willing to fess up he doesn't see how he can get her to talk.

His own paternal feelings towards the girl surprise him, but he supposes they shouldn't. One of a feral's most potent instincts is that of protecting their cubs. And while Roxanne may not be a child anymore, she is still of his blood.

And speaking of blood-

"Why do you have blood on your sleeve?" he asks, gesturing to her wrist.

Roxanne glances at the stain in question and scowls. "I got punched in the nose."

"Hmph. Did you get them back?"

"Definitely," she replies, her lips curling back slightly. "I think I broke her face."

"Good for you," Logan tells her.

She snorts and shakes her head at this, which he supposes he understands. It's not exactly the sentiment a father would normally express to a daughter- but neither he nor Roxanne is normal anyway, right?

"Who was it?"

"Mystique," Roxanne says, her expression dark.

Logan chuckles- he's already observed plenty enough to know how the blue shapeshifter is viewed at Xavier's, so he means it when he tells the feral girl, "sounds like she got what she deserved then."

A rather vicious smile passes over his daughter's pretty face. "I won't say you're wrong about that," she mutters.

Though she doesn't say anything more, Logan notices that she now attacks her ice cream with renewed gusto. Maybe he actually helped her in some way, though he's not sure how. It's still a nice thought.

When his food is done he wonders if he should take a seat across the counter from her. Daughter or not, he's kinda reached his capacity for human interaction already. He's not one just to shoot the breeze for the sake of it.

Hank walks into the kitchen before he can decide.

"There you are," the scientist says, grinning at Roxanne. "I've been looking for you, I have good news." He catches sight of Logan. "Oh, hi Logan. Am I interrupting anything, or-?"

"Nope."

Roxanne gives Hank a curious, hopeful look. "Good news?"

He nods. "You're on the team," he tells her, with obvious delight.

"But Mystique-?"

"She had to admit that you clearly have a great deal of potential, and agreed to give you a chance."

"That is good news," Roxanne agrees, with a lovely smile. "Thank you."

Hank shrugs bashfully. "There's nothing to thank me for."

Roxanne chuckles and shakes her head. She turns back to her ice cream and offers him a spoonful. "Want some?"

Hank gives Logan a furtive look. He seems to be wondering how prudent it would be to respond to a rather intimate gesture in front of the older feral, and ends up deciding on caution. Probably a smart move. "Not at the moment, thank you."

The girl giggles softly. She sends a meaningful look Logan's way. "Hank, is there any beer around here?" she asks.

"No, but I think there's some whiskey," the scientist replies, though he looks puzzled as to why she's asking. He walks over to a tall cupboard and pulls out a full bottle of Jack Daniels.

Roxanne glances back at Logan, who grins. "I'll take that," he says, swooping over to take the bottle. He immediately pops the top and takes a big swig. "This'll keep me warm for an hour, anyway."

Hank opens his mouth to make some sort of comment, but then decides against it.

Another wise choice.

The boy clears his throat. "Please excuse me," he murmurs. "I'm going to go look over the notes for my classes. You're welcome to come as well, Roxanne."

"I'd like that," she tells him. "Just let me finish my ice cream first."

"Ok," Hank replies, with a goofy besotted smile. "I'll- I'll see you soon."

He seems unsure of how to take his leave, clearly wanting to give the girl some sort of affection but too mindful of Logan's menacing presence to proceed. Roxanne breaks the stalemate by leaning over enough to kiss him quickly on the lips.

Hank walks out of the kitchen looking like someone just popped him in the head, all dazed and twitterpated.

Logan grunts and gestures towards the doorway Hank just exited. "So, you and him are a thing, right?"

Roxanne looks at him sharply, though the warning is ruined by the rising flush in her cheeks. "We haven't had a talk about it, if that's what you're wondering. But we definitely like each other," she replies primly. Her expression turns sheepish. "We've only known each other a few days."

"If you didn't say that I wouldn't have guessed," Logan observes. At her raised eyebrows he explains, "I dunno. You act like you've known each other a lot longer than that. Like you're comfortable with each other." He shrugs and grabs his plate- and his bottle. "Enjoy your ice cream, princess."

"Enjoy your bottle, Logan," she replies, bemused. "And- and thanks."

"For what?"

Roxanne shrugs. "I don't know, to be honest. But thanks, anyway."

He raises his bottle towards her, a feigned toast. "Anytime."