Multiversed
Disclaimer: X-Men and the Avengers belong to Marvel/Fox.
Two
Holding Cells, Avenger Headquarters, Stark Tower, NYC
Before Stark could turn and follow Fury over to the observation room, Wolverine grabbed his arm holding him back a moment until Fury was safely out of hearing range.
"Why're you helping her, Tin-Man?" He growled. Logan hasn't gotten to know the other Avengers very well yet but even he knows that Tony Stark aka Iron-Man doesn't do shit out of the goodness of his heart.
Peeling the Wolverine off of his arm Tony shoots the Feral a sarcastic look before sobering and giving him a rare straight answer.
"Because she was sick, Wolvie." He said with a level look. "I don't know how you cured her or how she dropped you but she was sick and now she's not. So I figure she had a damned good reason to track you down and break in. I'm not in the business of punishing sick women."
Shrugging him off he tapped one finger against the ear-piece he wears at all times when he's not suited up. Waiting a moment he watched Wolverine enter the holding cell with the Rogue before speaking.
"JARVIS."
"Yes, sir."
"I want all files you can find on a woman known as the Rogue or Rogue. Hack Xavier's, Logan used to be an X-Man back in the day, see if they know anything about her."
"You suspect she's a mutant, sir?"
"Yes," Tony answered moving towards the observation room. "And I want to know which side she plays for before I go to bat for her again."
"Very well, sir."
Disconnecting the link with another tap, Tony walks into the full observation room and pushes his way to the front between Dr. Bruce Banner – the Hulk, and Thor. Everyone wants to know how one little woman dropped the great Wolverine, it seems.
*x*x*x*x*x*
Logan took a deep breath before walking into the holding cell. He'd rather be anywhere but here. He likes to think of himself as a tough man, a survivor. Inside that cell is living proof that he can also be a coward and a runner, completely selfish and uncaring about the damage he leaves in his wake when he leaves – and he always leaves.
There's not much he's ashamed of in his unnatural life, not much of the last twenty-odd years that he can remember that he really regrets.
Marie's at the top of the list right under Mariko.
Seeing her so angry and bitter right before she knocked him out with that layer of sickness under the surface haunts him.
He has a feeling that a good chunk of his dirty laundry is about to get aired in front of his new boss and the rest of his team. He can't even say he doesn't deserve it.
Squaring his shoulders he enters a code into the security pad on the wall and walks into the holding cell. They'd given her one of the bigger ones with a full-twin bed bolted into the wall and its own bathroom hidden behind a shield. There's also an invisible security shield that runs the length of the room before turning a ninety-degree corner two feet from the door, boxing her into a space that she can't get out of while leaving room for others to come into the room and talk to her or observe her for whatever reason as the chairs lined up a set distance from the barrier attest to.
Apparently scared shitless of one little mutant – whether they've figure out what she is or not – they also left a pair of electronic cuffs on her that are capable of delivering a jolt to her system strong enough to knock her out if needed.
Logan moved over to the center most chair and eases down into it, studying his old protégé all over again. Her skin looked healthier, her hair more shiny and less brittle. Her eyes were more alert and less glazed and she doesn't have that air of fragility about her anymore. If it wasn't for the aura of maturity and world-weariness that surrounds her, he would think her the exact same girl he left behind – minus the cuffs of course.
"Finally up, huh?" Rogue drawled as she sat up from her position laying idly on the bed. Turning around in a smooth movement with none of the weakness that's plagued her for months, she dangles her legs over the edge of the bed with a knowing look at the mirrored glass. She knows they have an audience. "Maybe Ah don' pack the punch Ah used to."
With a smirk Logan lights up a cigar and clamps it between his teeth as he leans back against the chair in an easy sprawl.
"I doubt that, kid." He arches a brow. "What're you doin' here?
"Came to see an old friend." She gave him an answering smirk. "That is what you are if I remember right. That is what you told me that one time…remember?"
I'm not your father, kid. I'm your friend.
The ghost of those fateful words hang there in the air between them as tangible to the two of them as the "invisible" protective barrier that kept them on different sides of the room.
*x*x*x*x*x*
"Oh I like her." Tony said laughing on the other side of the mirror. "Smartass and not afraid of the big-bad Wolverine. Can we keep her?"
At the wave of hissed "be quiets" that answered his question he just settled into his spot and leaned one hand against the ledge of the mirror. Anyone who's not afraid of the Wolverine is worth knowing.
*x*x*x*x*x*
"Yeah, kid." Logan said after a long moment. "I'm still your friend."
"So, friend." She bounces to her feet and starts pacing her side of the barrier. "You gonna spring me? Not like I really broke any laws or anything…technically." Unless him and Stark pressed charges but she knows Logan wouldn't do that to her even after all this time and Stark doesn't seem like the type.
Logan snorts.
"You might not be under arrest, kid. But you're still in a shit-load of trouble. People are gonna wanta know how you got in here so easily. You made 'em look like chumps and amateurs, kid. And you know those types hate that."
"Well…they kinda are. Amateurs anyway. The security here has holes I could steal a missile through."
"That what you're doin' these days?" Logan asked with idle casualness. "Figured you'd still be with the geeks."
"Naw." She gave him a bitter smile. "After you took off they were all too scared-a me for me to stay much longer. Took me about six-months to give up on you comin' back then I split. Followed the circuit mostly." She shot him a meaning-filled look. "After all…I learned from the best."
*x*x*x*x*x*
Fury and Coulson were still bitching about the amateurs crack when the two on the other side of the mirror moved on to something much more interesting to Tony and the Avengers.
"They're talking in a code but not." Bruce pointed out. "They are both being very careful to reference events without giving any sort of context for us to go digging with."
Fury tuned back in at Dr. Banner's comment in time to hear her mention a circuit.
"That's the cage fighting circuit up in Canada." Fury said, thinking rapidly. "Wolverine has fought along that circuit off and on, going back as far as he remembers."
"She's a prize fighter?" Tony said looking at her with even more interest. "What a woman."
Thor just nods in agreement. Not many women fight in Asgaard but one of his oldest friends Sif is an unequaled fighter.
"Agent Coulson," Fury barked out. "We've got a starting point. Get on it. I want everything you can find on the Rogue on my desk by 0600 tomorrow."
*x*x*x*x*x*
"Jesus, kid." Logan scratches at his jaw. "I never figured you picked up that much from me." He worded carefully.
"Well, I did." She said shortly. "More than anyone else except her. And I did everything I could to forget what she taught me as quickly as possible. I did my best to lock it away and forget about it."
"Jesus." Logan stared blankly at the end of his cigar. He tried all this time to not think about that. To think about Jean and Phoenix's possible influence on little Marie. Guess she's been doing the same.
"I wish." She laughed bitterly. "He would've been easier to deal with. Picked up jobs here and there, ran into some old friends and made some new ones. Some of them knew you. I probably know more about you than you do at this point."
"That wouldn't be hard to manage." He said with a grin and a shrug. He's passed letting the blanks in his memory drive him. "How'd all of that bring you to me?"
"Took a job a while back. One I never should've taken." She rubbed absently at her leg where Viper slashed at her. "Bitch named Viper tagged me. Tried everything I could think of but in the end…"
"You needed some help from me."
"Yup." She said with a nod. "Believe me I tried everything and everyone else first. You'd made it pretty damn clear you wanted to forget about everything that happened, including me. But I was out of options."
"Alright, kid. Fair enough." He said leaning forward and stabbing out his cigar. "But, look. They're not lettin' you outta here without knowing how you broke in. You agree to show them the blindspots in their security and you can walk outta here. You already covered why you came so you show 'em how you got in and you're square. That's the deal."
Rogue shrugged. It was a fair deal.
"Fine by me. These cuffs are startin' to itch."
*x*x*x*x*x*
As Logan walked into the observation room he noticed that everyone except Fury and the Avengers minus Black Widow and Hawkeye had left. Probably due to the fact that Stark and Fury are in the middle of a giant hissy fit.
"She's a dangerous creature that we know nothing about!" Fury bellowed an inch from Stark's face. "There's nothing to gain from keeping her! She doesn't belong here!"
Grabbing Fury with one hand Logan backs him off Stark as he gives his teammates a look.
"What the fuck is goin' on?"
"Tony thinks we should try and recruit her. The Director clearly disagrees." Bruce said calmly. All he needs is some popcorn to share with Thor and the two of them would be in heaven.
"Recruit Rogue?" Logan arched a brow at Tony. "This isn't because you wanna try and get in her pants is it?" Because that never ends well.
"Look at her she's gorgeous, of course I do." Tony said with a wave at the woman on the other side of the glass. "But also she's dangerous, smart, a fighter, a smartass, and clearly has skills that we have no idea of the scale of. She's perfect for the Avengers. Plus she gets along, after a fashion, with Wolvie. That alone has to be worth its weight in gold."
"She did break in here with little to no effort." Steve aka Captain America points out.
"I don't suppose you're going to be forthcoming about her skills and past, are you Wolverine?" Fury stares at Logan.
"Nope. Kid's secrets are her own."
"Fine then." Fury sighed. "Tonight she helps Stark and the Captain plug the holes in security. Once I have Coulson's report about Ms. Rogue on my desk in the morning we will revisit recruiting her. Until then," he pointed to Captain America, Tony, and Logan. "You three keep an eye on her. One of you at least on guard duty with her at all times that she is outside her cell. And she stays in that cell tonight."
"The cuffs?" Logan reminds him.
"Fine, fine." Fury waves at him in agreement. "Eyes on her at all times."
