Chapter 9 "Operation Rogue and Logan"

Something was different about Rogue. Everyone could sense it. When she walked into the room she no longer emitted this raging aura that had been her shadow for the past three some odd years. No, something was definitely different about Rogue. And that was because the Rogue was gone. Marie was back.

No one really knew what happened to Rogue inside of her own head while she was unconscious, but everyone in the mansion was thanking whatever deity presided above them for her change. The change wasn't radical; she was still innately grumpy and could still be found releasing tension down in the Danger Room, but she laughed and smiled much more often. No, the only outright radical change that took place was the change that took place between the Wolverine and the Rogue.

Rogue and Logan were slowly getting to know one another again. Rogue found that Logan had stayed fairly the same but Logan quickly found that much had changed about her. She was no longer the impressionable, impulsive, irrational kid he'd picked up on the side of the road. She was far more calculating and logical, even more so than he. She hardly ever gave in to temptation and was not easy to influence. She was extremely strong willed and stubborn.

Logan didn't try to hurry things along. He was afraid of pushing too hard and in turn pushing her away. There was no doubt in his mind that he loved her and wanted to see what they could make of a relationship, but Logan wanted to give her plenty of time to make up her mind about him. And though they were both content with their slow paced evolution, some members of the X-Men were eager for something more to transpire between the pair.

………0………

"When are you gonna' get with that chica?" Asked Jubilee, cornering Rogue in their room. "You two are going no where fast and it's time you did something about it!"

"I hate to say it, but she's right." Kitty said, sitting on her bed flipping through a magazine.

"Oh shut up," Rogue snapped, plopping down on her own bed.

"Has he even made a move?" Jubilee asked, and then ducked to avoid the pillow that Rogue threw at her.

"No," Rogue said. "And that's perfectly fine with me!"

It had been almost a month since Rogue was released from the hospital wing and she and Logan had fallen into a comfortable friendship. She hadn't really noticed that they never had much physical contact…until her two best friends so nicely pointed it out.

"Does he ever even hug you?" Kitty asked, flipping another page of her magazine.

"Of course he does!"

"Name one time when he's hugged you since you got out of the hospital." Jubilee challenged. Rogue glared at her.

"Knew it," Kitty muttered.

"We have got to help Wolvie out with this one," Jubilee said to herself as she began to pace back and forth, the gears in her mind starting to turn.

Rogue just rolled her eyes and left the room. She wouldn't have left if she knew that her absence from the room left Jubilee and Kitty freedom to come up with the perfect scheme to get her and Logan together at last.

"We're gonna need a little help with this," Kitty mused out loud and Jubilee smiled.

"Let's go find Storm and Scott!" Jubilee said and the two rushed from the room.

…….0…….

"I don't think it would be a wise idea to corner those two," Storm said wisely as Jubilee suggested locking Logan and Rogue in a broom closet somewhere.

"She makes a point," Scott murmured. "Logan would just rip the damn door down anyway."

"Well then what are we gonna do?" Jubilee huffed, crossing her arms across her chest.

"I'm not sure we should do anything. Maybe it would be best to leave them up to their own devises." Storm suggested.

"Ole' Wolvie is never going to make a move and you know Rogue won't budge. I'm not suggesting anything drastic; just a little shove in the right direction." Jubilee said innocently.

"Shoving them into a broom closet is your idea of a little shove?" Scott asked.

"Alright, so Jubilee isn't the most subtle person on the planet," Kitty always felt like she had to come to Jubilee's rescue. "But her heart is in the right place. These two are the most stubborn people in the world and without our help they may never get together!"

"Kitty's right," sighed Scott. "But the question is, what do we do about it?"

"I think the only room we could get them into without one of them getting suspicious is the freakin' Danger Room!" Jubilee grumbled and dramatically flung herself down on the couch that was in Scott's office.

"You're a genius Jubes!" Kitty beamed.

"That may just work but we may have to bring Charles into it," Scott mused and rubbed his chin, the wheels in his head already turning.

"We could trap them in a simulation!" Storm exclaimed! The group gathered around Scott's desk, eagerly chatting away about what kind of simulation would be appropriate to give the Wolverine a little nudge. When they had their game plan all mapped out the group raced down to the Danger Room to begin phase one of Operation Rogue and Logan.

………0………

"Logan, please go down to the Danger Room and keep an eye on a few of the younger students that are down there training. I'm afraid Storm had to leave the class early due to a rather nasty blow to the head." Logan heard Xavier's voice and it almost made him jump.

"I hate it when you do that," Logan grumbled, hearing Xavier chuckle a bit.

Logan made his way to the Danger Room as slowly as possible. He was not looking forward to babysitting a bunch of brats trying not to get blown to pieces by droids on the war path. He stopped by one of the staff rooms in hopes of finding alcohol, but to his disappointment was stuck with a luke-warm soda. Where was Ice Man when he needed him?

He walked extremely slowly down to the lower levels, polishing off the last bit of his soda before entering the Danger Room. He grunted agitatedly when he found it empty, save one person.

"Where's the rug rats?" Logan grumbled. At the sound of his voice, Rogue spun quickly on her heels.

"I have no idea." She said, her annoyance apparent. "Charles told me to come down here to watch them because Storm hit her head or something."

"Yeah," Logan nodded. "He gave me the same story, but I don't see no kids here." Logan sniffed the air, catching a few lingering scents coming from the observation deck.

"The kids up there?" Rogue asked Logan, noticing him glaring in the deck's direction.

"No," Logan growled slowly. He sniffed the air a few times. "It's One-Eye, Storm, and your two idiot friends."

"What are they doin' up there?" Rogue whirled around to glare up at the deck along with Logan. "I thought Storm was hurt!"

"Let's get out of…" Logan was cut off by the sight of the Danger Room door sliding shut.

"SCOTT!" Logan's voice boomed.

"JUBILEE! KITTY!" Rogue followed suit. They both knew yelling at them wouldn't do them any good. They were stuck in that room until they finished whatever insane simulation those four insane morons had programmed for them.

Meanwhile, the four insane morons were on the observation deck having themselves a lovely laugh.

"They're possibly going to kill us when they get out of there," Kitty managed to choke out amongst the giggles.

"Or they'll thank us!" Jubilee interjected.

"Yes, well, let's get this show on the road and leave these two alone, shall we?" Storm said, pressing a button to begin the simulation. Jubilee was thoroughly disappointed about this.

"Aw darn! I wanted to watch!" She pouted. Scott shook his head.

"No way, then Logan would really kill us."

"Scott's right, they deserve their privacy." Storm said sternly. Jubilee and Kitty nodded and the four left the room. Jubilee and Kitty scampered off to go tell Peter and Bobby about their little scheme.

"I hope this works." Storm said worriedly after the two giggling younger women were out of earshot.

"It will," Scott said confidently. "As much as I hate to acknowledge it, Logan's a good man with a good heart. And Rogue's an intelligent woman. They just, as Jubilee put it, needed a little shove in the right direction."

"Why Scott, if I didn't know better I'd say you almost like Logan now." Storm teased. Scott glared down at Storm. It would be a cold day in hell before he'd admit to anyone that he actually didn't mind having the Wolverine around. But Storm didn't miss the slight smile on his lips.

He's healing, she thought. He's finally coming back to us.

………0………

"I'm going to kill them!" Rogue exclaimed.

"Get in line!" Logan snarled.

Logan and Rogue both tensed up as the lights in the room grew very dim and the scene around them began to change. The simulation had begun.

Authors Note: Thank you for your patience with me. I think that I've nuked this story-line almost as much as possible, so the end should be coming soon and then I will be starting a new fic. Not sure yet it if will be a Harry Potter or an X-Men, seeing as I have promising ideas for both. I'm going through a rough time right now, so I think the more I concentrate on fanfictions the better off I'll be, as sad as that sounds lol. Thank you to all the reviewers, I appreciate it very much! Keep reading and see how this turns out!