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Pack Challenge
A/N: Thanks for all the feedback, I really appreciate it! On to the story!
Chapter Four
Rogue watched in patent amusement as Logan and Victor growled in unison at the less-than-diplomatic Pyro. Ironically enough it was the fire-manipulator who was the only one of the Brotherhood members present – as far as she knows – that would watch her with total focus while being threatened by the Feral Brothers. The only others that would ever show her that much respect for her power are Mags himself or Gambit if he's under contract with the Brotherhood at the moment.
It's hard to tell with the Cajun where his loyalties lie on any given day. Except for two things. His family and the Thieves Guild. Which is funny because those are the same two reasons she refuses to have anything to do with him.
She'll be damned if she'll play third-chair to not only his family – which she could understand – but an entire legion of morally-ambiguous thieves.
Rogue just isn't wired that way.
She spent too long cut off from human contact to not have high expectations of her lover – theoretical or otherwise.
Shaking off her thoughts, she smirked at the orange-headed right-hand-man of Magneto.
"Yeah Pyro." She mocked relentlessly as the Feral Brothers towered over her. "I'm hangin' out with Sabertooth and Wolverine right now. Why don't you run along an' play an' let the adults talk now?"
"Bitch." Pyro hissed between his clenched teeth as Sabertooth eyed him like a bug to squash under his massive boot. Seriously, how big are these guys? Wolverine isn't that small of a man at just under six feet but his older brother towers over him a good six or seven inches. What the fuck did they eat as kids?
"Stalker." She shot back as she tugged on the back of her companions' shirts. Rogue really wasn't in the mood to watch someone get eviscerated. Even if it was someone as pure-fucking-annoying as her former friend. "Seriously, this is like the fifth time in the last month I've run into you. Do you have me on Lo-Jack or something?"
"This little fucker been givin' you problems, darlin'?" Logan growled as his eyes flashed pure gold for a second, making their audience race to disperse except for Ripcord the bar's owner and Pyro's Brotherhood buddies.
"We can fix that for ya, Stripes." Sabertooth flashed his elongated canines in a vicious smirk.
Rogue just giggle at the offer, finally succeeding in getting Victor and Logan to sit back, although they both promptly restricted her down movement, each throwing an arm around her shoulders and pinning her in place.
"Pyro? A problem?" She said around her giggle spell as the mutant in question got redder and redder in the face. "He'd have to find some balls first. Oh, wait." She gasped as if just remembering. "They're in Mag's pocket."
Pyro narrowed his eyes at the insulting bitch, taking a threatening step forward before he remembered himself. He wasn't here to pick a fight with Rogue – for once – but to talk to her new…friends. Swallowing hard he gathered his focus and reined in his temper before speaking.
"Magneto sent me with an offer for Mr. Creed." He said semi-cordially. "One I would prefer to deliver in private."
Vic just chuckled as the runt arched a brow at that. Guess they finally figured out which of the two of them was more likely to go along with – as Wheels would say – "morally ambiguous" plans.
"We're not for hire anymore, kid." Logan took a puff of his cigar as he played with one of Rogue's unruly curls, not even looking over at the Brotherhood representatives. "Those day are long gone. Should've looked us up twenty years ago."
"Nah." Vic grinned before leaning over and nipping lightly at the shell of one pale pink ear. He could smell the effect his and his brother's proximity was having on Stripes and he was loving it. No way were either of them going to bail on her now that they've gotten a shit-ton closer to getting her where they want her. "Not even then."
"Fifty, then?" Logan arched a brow, looking over Rogue's head as she rolled her eyes at being ignored – again – and took a drink of her beer.
"Probably not." Vic shook his head as if in disappointment. "I don't think we were ever crazy or stupid enough to get mixed up with Buckethead. Well…" he trailed off for a minute as he thought about it. "Not both of us at the same time anyway."
Logan chuckled at that. Yeah, they've both had some bat-shit crazy moments but thankfully never both of them at the same time…for the most part.
Rogue tramped down the urge to laugh at the visibly fuming Pyro, steam nearly shooting out from his ears as he listened to the Feral Brothers poke fun at his boss and mentor.
"Sinjin." She said with a sigh, rising to her feet and cocking her hip. "They turned Mags down last time. They turned him down the time before that. And the time before that. And every time before that. Sabertooth and Wolverine aren't for sale, not for any price or for any cause."
A spark of flame stared at Pyro's side, causing an instantaneous reaction from Logan and Victor as they pounced in unison, Victor pinning Pyro's arms to his side in a painful version of a bear-hug while Logan held a set of bared adamantium claws to his throat.
"You heard the lady." Logan got right in the little fuckers face with a snarl as Vic roared in his ear. "We ain't for sale. 'Especially not to yer boss."
"I think it's time to go." Ripcord intervened sharply, trying desperately to stop the fight before any blood was shed. It was hard enough scratching a living out of this little town in the far north without having two of his best cage fighters gutting a Brotherhood mutant in the middle of his damn bar. "All of you." He looked over at the calm Southern Belle sipping on her drink at the table. "You too sweetheart."
Rogue batted her lashes with a pout at the lean mutant as Victor and Logan tossed Pyro and his chicken-shit buddies from the building and out into the snow.
"Aww now that's too bad." She all but purred as she sauntered to the door – and her waiting Ferals. "I was just startin' to have an entertainin' evenin'."
Ripcord just shook his head and barked "show's over" at his few remaining patrons. That was one sassy – and fine – female. He wasn't sure whether to feel sorry or envious of his fighters for having her attention. When a bang sounded from the parking lot he winced before locking eyes with his pretty wife who was wiping down the table, answering his own unvoiced question with a shrug. None of his concern.
*x*x*x*
No sooner had Rogue come through the door than she saw the newest round of dick measuring between the Ferals and the Brotherhood members. Like there was any real competition. Only Pyro had been joined by the rest of his personal band of merry idiots, also known as Avalanche, Quicksilver, and Havok.
"What'd you guys do, duck out while the ladies of the "Brotherhood" were having a slumber party or somethin'?" She asked as she cast her eyes over the quartet facing off with Logan and Victor, a few other guys who'd never been worth her learning their names standing just behind the more powerful mutants in a crescent.
"Jesus, Roguey." Pyro bitched as he rolled his eyes. "Why do you always hafta bust my balls?"
"Because you handed them over to Mags on a silver platter because you have a hard-on for his daughter, duh." She rolled her eyes as she leaned against the building's wall. "Bros before hos, Sinjin."
"Hey-that's-my-sister-you're-talking-about!" Quicksilver squawked indignantly only to be ignored in favor of a much better response to Rogue's charge against Pyro.
"So…" Havok drawled eyeing her leather clad body appreciatively. "In this scenario which are you because I have to say I'm hoping for ho…"
As the last word left his mouth, Alex Summers aka Havok found himself on the wrong side of the Wolverine's claws as Logan led the charge, Vic backing him up while Rogue contented herself – for the moment – with watching the mayhem.
"Fuck!" Pyro cursed as he dodged a swipe of Vic's own claws, taking a hard hit to the ribs in the process. "Can't you buy a filter for your damn mouth, Havok?"
"Like you're one to talk, Sinjin." Rogue shouted from the sidelines, taking a break from cheering on her Ferals. "Your mouth is the reason for half of the tussles the Brotherhood gets into with the X-Men."
Fed up with Rogue's attitude, Quicksilver ran around her in circles before latching onto her wrist and attempting to throw her. Not the best idea since she just used the momentum to aid her flight. Rapidly gaining altitude she waited for that instinct that told her she'd climbed high enough before bulleting back to Earth faster than even Pietro could track, catching hold of him with one arm around his neck and wrapping her legs around his waist from behind.
"Hey Pyro." She called down from her spot several stories in the air. "I think it's time to break it up and y'all to run back home unless you wanna bring a Quicksilver pancake back home to Daddy instead-a his heir."
The bruised and bloodied mutants – on the Brotherhood side – all stopped and looked up at her shout, Victor and Logan giving half-hearted growls over having their fun halted prematurely. They hadn't even gotten to the eviscerating yet…
"Woman are you always gonna be spoiling our fun?" Vic called up at her with an amused smirk on his face as Logan retracted his claws with a snickt.
She just giggled in Pietro's ear as Havok started making fun of their idea of entertainment, nursing a broken arm and collarbone all the way back to the Brotherhood's little four-by-four.
"I don't think you're allowed to keep that one, darlin'." Logan pointed out with a chuckle as he lit up a new cigar, gesturing towards her still hovering form as Pyro waited for her to return his teammate, the other two already ensconced in the truck.
"Awww." She drawled in mock-disappointment. "Really? I dunno, he has a kinda awkward cuteness going on for him…"
"Whoo hoo." Pietro heckled Pyro from the air as she lowered them back to the ground. "Rogue thinks I'm cute."
"Awkwardly cute." Pyro rolled his eyes. "Roguey could find cuteness in a half-starved dog with fleas, ticks, and mange. She's a softie under all that snark."
Rogue just stuck her tongue out at Sinjin before leaning close into Pietro's ear.
"When I let go you're gonna wanna run all the way back to y'all's transport." She whispered, ignoring the curious look from the Ferals as they tried to catch what she was saying. "Don't wait for the car, just run."
"Wha…?" Before he could finish his question, Rogue pressed a long kiss to his cheek, her eyes locked on the now-furious forms of Logan and Victor before letting him go.
Pietro shook off the dizziness, well-informed about what the after-effects of Rogue's power feels like. With a frightened glance at the mutants they were sent to this frozen wasteland to collect – he wasn't an idiot, anyone could see they have a thing for the Rogue and he likes his organs inside his body if you please – he sped off following Rogue's instructions.
"That's playing dirty, Roguey." Pyro tsked as he walked over to the driver side door of the four-by-four. "I've never known you to use your power just to collect information unless it's life-and-death."
Her sad green eyes locked on his through the glass, knowing he could read her lips.
"You don't really know my anymore, Sinjin." She whispered. "You haven't known me in a long time."
*x*x*x*
After the four-by-four sped away, Victor and Logan flanked Rogue, each wrapping an arm around her lush form and avoiding the duffle still on one shoulder. Gently they turned her towards one side of the parking lot, leading her towards a large, heavy truck with chains on the tires.
"C'mon, Stripes." Vic nuzzled her ear as he got as close to her as he could, nearly crowding her with his massive body. "Let's go."
"Go where?" She asked, suddenly weary and heart-sore. Sinjin. Why'd he have to go do a damn fool thing like falling in love with Wanda?
"Our home." Logan squeezed the side of her hip with his hand. "Let us take ya home, darlin'."
"Ok." She said with a sigh. Home. How long has it been since she's had an actual home. "Home sounds…nice."
Leaning her head to the side she rested it on one of Victor's massive biceps, wrapping her arm in turn around Logan's hips.
Home sounds…perfect.
A/N: I'm sure y'all know what's coming next chapter…
