"C'mon, kid." His voice is gentler than she's used to it sounding, quiet and subdued. "I know it's hard but yah gotta find yahr way back to us eventually."
She hears birds chirping.
He runs his fingers through her hair, gentle, soothing. She opens her eyes, wincing at the sunlight streaming in through the room.
Her head hurts and her mouth is so dry. "Water." She murmurs, coughing a bit.
Logan reaches for something out of sight and then brings a glass to her lips, helping her to drink. "Take it slow. Catchin' up will take a minute or two. Yah were out for..a while. We were startin' to worry."
She takes a few good sips, then collapses back onto the bed. "Rogue. We found her..."
"She's alright. Had a real number done on 'er. She took on your attitude for a good few days, so that was a pain in the ass." Jamie narrows her eyes at him. He chuckles. "Thankfully she's sounding a bit more herself now. One of you is definitely enough, kid."
She rolls her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Fair 'nough. Jake?"
"Back at the Mansion. He didn't want to leave yah but then his mother turned back up an'...well. I said yah'd been out a while."
Her eyebrows shoot up. Finally. "No, but that's good. Great! Things can get back to normal down there now. Or, uh, as normal as they ever are I guess. I'm sure Jake's happy." A pause. "An' how about Ma?" She brings her hand up to inspect it, half distracted. There's a needle stuck into a vein atop it. A saline drip. Just how long has she been out?
Logan's demeanor changes in an instant. Any hint of his previous amusement leaves his face; he schools his expression, putting on a mask of calm as he blows out a breath. "She ever tell you, how rough she had it when you were still in the oven?"
Jamie nods, now trying to work her way into a sitting position. "Kinda. She said I almost didn't survive."
"There was more to it." He explains slowly. "She was pregnant with twins. Her body just, didn't handle it well. Doctors weren't sure why. When she went into labor real early, they did everything they could. But the second baby just wasn't strong enough, and your Ma...she took a long time recoverin', I guess."
Jamie takes a moment to process that information. "Did..did the babies make it this time?"
He nods slowly. "Yeah. Two boys and a girl. Born a little early, but the doctors don't seem worried. Just means they gotta stay in the hospital for a while."
Jamie's stomach churns. She knows what's coming, somehow, remembering the dream she'd had while still out. Such a vivid dream. "I have a sister, now?" She says. "I wished for a sister, when I was younger."
"Your twin would've been a sister." He answers quietly.
Silence for a moment. Tears track down both her cheeks.
"Your mom fought, real hard." He says, a little shaky now. "They thought they were gonna lose 'er during, but they didn't. She held on for a day. They let me in to be with her, I was there when she finally..."
A sob wracks Jamie's shoulders, uncontrollable.
Logan gets up to close the door to the room, then comes to sit on the bed next to her. She lays her head on his chest and just lets the sobs come.
…
They're at the ranch Kelly Montgomery's parents own. "Well, I think your boyfriend was the one that thought of me, seein' as I was relatively close. I called my Dad up and he had a nurse come in to check you over and get the drip set up. Not sure what he paid the good lady, but she never asked any questions." He sets a plate of meat and vegetables down before her on the table.
"Jesus. I owe you one, yah know. You really have no idea, Kelly." She takes up his hand to squeeze it before tucking into the food with even more vigor than usual.
"Nah. Money's no issue an' this one wasn't even on you, anyway. Your friend said somethin' about those absolute degenerates that took over what used to be the Murray farm, you remember? You butted heads with 'em a time or two."
"Hell, a lot of us have." Jamie confirms between bites. "They're a wild bunch. One time, I walk out of the Warehouse to have a smoke and there's one of 'em right there, out in the open, beatin' up on some poor girl. I roughed him up some myself but it was too easy, he was barely worth the effort. They banned the lot of 'em from the Warehouse after that. You know you've done bad when that place won't take any more of your nonsense. But they'd have had to wander out pretty far to end up where Logan and my Ma were, what's that about?"
"Who knows? They'd been gettin' braver since you and Tierney both left. I get the sense no one else's tough enough to challenge them proper. Anyway, I didn't ask too many questions 'cause I figure I'm better off not knowin' but I think your friend might've takin' good care of 'em. I doubt whatevers left of them will be ready to cause too much trouble any time soon."
Brows furrowing, a forkful of food sits suspended before Jamie's mouth as worry momentarily overcomes need. "My..friend? Not Pops?"
"No. He was...dealin' with other things. Uh. It was the girl, introduced herself as Rogue."
Jamie drops her fork in favor of scrubbing a hand through her hair. "No. No, it wouldn't have been her. It'd have been me." She curses.
Kelly's expression turns to one of bewilderment. He opens his mouth...
"Oh, c'mon now," a different voice interjects, "it ain't that simple and never once has been and yah're not about to apologize for savin' my sorry hide 'cause Ah won't hear it Jamie Logan." Rogue flurries into the room and snatches up Jamie's near empty plate without missing a beat, refilling it before setting it back down. "Eat. Yah need it. Ah know yahr starvin'."
Kelly clears his throat softly and excuses himself, pausing only to press a kiss to Jamie's temple on his way out.
Jamie huffs a growl even as the smell of the food sends her belly to begging for more sustenance. "How much a mess did we make?"
"Jamie-girl -"
"Anna!" Jamie's bark is louder.
The older girl huffs a growl of her own. "A big one, alright? But it was nothin' they didn't deserve."
"Since when do you talk like that?"
"Since Ah got tore up by a bunch of attack dogs and then shot."
"Did you kill them?" Jamie asks, blunt.
"Yes."
"How many?"
"Ah don't know. Ah didn't hang around that long. Ah took it far enough to make sure they wouldn't think of tryin' to be a problem again and then Ah left. Open an' shut. You wouldn't've thought anythin' more of it."
"Yah're not me. Yah don't wanna be me. I'm not even sure that I wanna be me half the time. This ain't ok."
"Well, it's done now."
Jamie gets to her feet, her mind racing.
"Oh, for Heaven's sake – where're yah goin'?" Rogue barks.
"See if Kelly's got a phone he doesn't mind me usin'. I got people I can call in, clean up. Deal with the local cops. I'll eat some more after, I promise."
A more calculated pause. Rogue's tone changes, grows wary. "Snake Lady's gonna bite yah back for the favor if yah ask it."
Jamie freezes. Oh? She turns around slow. "It works like that, huh? Alright. I'm gonna need yah to be very clear with me, bud. How much do yah know?"
"Enough to know yah're in it deep enough that one more favor owed now is just a drop in the bucket. But Ah don't want yah to feel like yah got to add even just that over me."
A staring contest ensues, a battle of wills. Rogue's eyes are flushed with gold, like Jamie's. There's no clear winner of the contest.
Jamie huffs a growl and heads off to find Kelly.
.
She slips outside after she's eaten, keys to Kelly's truck in hand; he'd agreed to let her take a drive in it, clear her head. Her thoughts are jumbled and the weather outside is just as dreary as her mood, so she almost doesn't even realize...
She passes it right up, makes it all the way over to Kelly's truck even. Freezes, hand on the door handle. Turns around slow, brows furrowed. An odd sort of shiver runs down her spine.
Her truck is parked out in front of the barn. It shouldn't be, because she'd left it at Ouroboros' HQ way down in Virginia. And somehow, no one had noticed someone pull up in the thing. Or if one of the farmhands had, they didn't say anything, which carries further implications in and of itself.
She makes her way over to it. The door is open. The keys are in the ignition and her cellphone is resting on the drivers seat. Upon further inspection, she realizes the thing is fully charged and is displaying notifications for multiple missed calls and one text.
It's from the Snake Lady. Meet me here. Do not have your phone on you and tell no one where you are going. An address is listed along with a date and time.
Not sketchy at all.
Jamie just sighs and starts up her truck.
…
She calls Jake, later, after catching up with things further and getting to a place where she feels halfway sane again.
It rings multiple times. But he doesn't answer.
.
"Your grandfather called."
"I left my phone inside."
"I noticed."
"Just..wanted some quiet. Is that a crime?"
Logan heaves a long-suffering sigh as he sits himself next to Jamie in front of the pit where she'd lit a small bonfire. "No, it's not. But it's your grandfather, kid."
"I'll go see him. Just, not now." She puffs the cigar she's been working on.
"Kid -"
"Don't, alright? I don't wanna talk about it."
Logan huffs a growl. "Look. He's settin' up a service of some kind now you've come around. They already laid her to rest but -"
"Useless." Jamie snaps, cutting him off. "Stuff like that, it's all useless. She'll still be gone once everyone's done cryin' an' the last thing I need is to watch all my yuppy, self-absorbed aunts and cousins spend a day beggin' for attention, pretendin' they actually care that she's gone."
"Shit, kid. I get it, believe me, I get it. But I'm tellin' yah, closin' yourself off ain't gonna make yah feel any better."
"I'm not gonna feel any better, doesn't matter what I do."
"Will you go anyway? For your grandfather's sake, at least?" He raises an eyebrow.
She scowls at him. "Do I have to?" She won't disobey Logan, not so directly. If he says she has to go, then she will.
He seems to contemplate it. "I don't wanna do that to yah." He says at length. "But I hope you'll think about it." He presses a kiss to her temple, and leaves her to her thoughts again.
…
Jake finally calls her one morning, early enough he wakes her up.
"Hey, you." She murmurs, half-asleep still.
"Did you know? Was it you?" He demands without preamble, sounding shaken, on edge.
"What? What's 'it'?"
"The news is all over. You haven't seen?"
"I've had a few other things on my mind, bud, will yah get to the point so I can tell yah 'no' and go back to sleep?" She's just getting annoyed now.
"The senator. The one they had you fucking." He barks at her, harsh. "He's dead and so help me, Jamie Logan, I've been understanding enough, you'd better tell me the truth. Was. It. You?"
Her heart skips a very real beat. Her stomach turns. Her palms grow sweaty. "No. I didn't. I couldn't've...Jake, the last time I saw him, he was alive. I was with you after that and then unconscious. He's dead? He can't...why would they do that?"
"He was spearheading the fight against the mutant registration act and had been just days away from announcing a presidential campaign! Why do you think they would do this?"
"You know it wasn't me. I've been here dealing with -"
"I know! I know you have. But you're not stupid, you can't pretend you didn't know what they might be about to do once you told them whatever you found out."
"I didn't think it through, there's been so much going on. Jake, I'm – shit." She shoots to her feet and out of her bedroom door, phone still clutched absently in her hand as she vaults across the hall and into the bathroom, her stomach intent on relieving itself of what little was in it.
Jake's voice calls out to her from where the phone ends up on the floor beside her, worry slipping through the cracks of his anger.
A long few moments passes. He goes silent.
When the abrupt wave of nausea finally subsides she works herself into a sitting position against the bathtub, scrubbing a hand through her hair and reaching for the phone. "You still there?" She croaks, though she's feeling like death and has absolutely no desire to continue the conversation.
"Yeah. I'm still here." His voice is quieter now, a little more gentle. "You really didn't know, did you? I'm sorry. This must've been a helluva 'good morning'."
"No. You were right, I should've known somethin' was up. I should've known." Her voice cracks, she spits curses. Her hands are shaking, she feels woozy and her stomach is still twisted in knots. She can't take this. Not now, it's all too much.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you up there. You're..clearly just not ok, I wouldn't be either after...well. How about I see if I can -"
"No." She says quickly. She put in too much work, negotiating with the Snake Lady for the favor of getting Jake's mother back. "Stay in New York, ok? I'm gonna try to get my head screwed on straight and then I'll come down there."
There's a hesitant pause, and he sighs into the phone. "So that's it, huh? It's always just gonna be me here waiting."
"Don't. How's your mom doing?"
"She's... alright." His speech is a little stilted, but he allows the subject change. "Uh, relatively, anyway. Happy to be home. She and my dad are weirdly at odds, she says she doesn't know who took her and he seems to think she's not telling us something. I'm not sure she isn't, with the way we found her. She was just there on the phone one day, calling us from a few towns over, asking politely if someone could come and get her. She didn't even seem scared or anything, I don't know, it's all kind of bizarre even by our usual standards."
Jamie's brows furrow. Yeah, that is bizarre. She files it away to think on it later. Ms. Munroe is safe. For now that's all that matters. "Well, at least she's home."
"Yeah. We'll figure the rest out from here. Look, are you sure you don't want me to...?"
"No." Jamie answers firmly. "Just, take care of your family."
"Dammit!" He barks. "What is the matter with you? Am I your boyfriend or not? What are we even doing here if you won't let me-"
"If you don't like the way I do things then just let the whole thing go." She doesn't shout. She doesn't really even have the energy to be heated at the moment. "I wouldn't blame you."
"Is that what you want? To just let the whole thing go?" He sounds distressed but not angry. "If you really just want to be alone, I won't..."
"Then don't." She spits, impulsive, because she just wants to go lay back down and cry. She doesn't mean it, regrets the outburst as soon as the words leave her lips. Wildthing stirs in her mental cage, stupid, stupid, take it back, talk to Future-Mate. But he hangs up before she can say anything more, so that's the end of that.
…
"Kid?"
"Yep."
"What..the hell...?"
"Uhm."
"How'd you get up there?"
She's in an old treehouse, Kelly's. Well, its more like a leaning tree-shack, really, a wooden platform supported by thick old branches with a rickety roof but no real walls. Kelly and his father had built it themselves. Logan's confusion likely is stemming from the fact that there is no ladder for her to have climbed; there had been one, but a recent storm had somehow ended with it in pieces.
"What, yah tellin' me you never learned how to climb a tree?" She questions casually. "Claws make it child's play." She takes a swig from the bottle in her hand.
"Is that whiskey? Aw, Jesus. Look, yah're mother's memorial -"
"Yeah, yeah."
"Kid." His tone a warning now.
She rolls her eyes. "Think fast, old man." She tosses the bottle in her hand; he catches it reflexively. She gets to her feet and stumbles a bit, clumsily kicking another bottle over the edge.
He darts out of the way just in time for the empty bottle to land in the grass at his feet, eyebrow raising. "Whoa, now. Easy, kid." His tone grows gentler, placating. "Yah can't jus'..."
But she's already begun working her way back down. He places himself closer to the base of the tree, likely preparing to try and catch her if she falls. It's possible he could, she weighs little more than a feather compared to him with his internal armor plaiting, but she's done this so many times before that she manages it with little difficulty.
She comes to stand before him and holds out her hands to take a bow. "Ta-da."
He pinches the bridge of his nose. "A bottle an' a half. I wanna hope that's all but judgin' by the smell of yah..."
He's right. There's another empty one still sitting up in the treehouse, she'd had to practically chug the first one to get to where she is now, and all in the space of only two hours, too. She shrugs and reaches out to take the half full bottle from his hand. He lets her, seeming tired and unsure.
"I take it yah're not comin' to the service, then?"
A pause. She begins heading back towards the house, steadier on her feet than a girl in her condition probably ought to be, though she's moving slow. "Would yah blame me for just not wantin' to do it sober?"
"Not sober? 'Not sober', that would be one thing, I could forgive that. You, are hammered, and it's not even noon. An considerin' how hard it is for us to get there, I know yah did it on purpose, which ain't helpin yahr case."
"If yah'd met my aunts an' cousins, yah wouldn't be judgin'."
"Huh. That's a convenient excuse and yah sure use the hell outta it, don't yah?"
She turns to face him as they reach the houses back porch. "Look, do yah want me to go to this stupid thing or not?"
Silence for several beats. He studies her, slowly shaking his head.
"What?"
"You'll feel guilty if you don't go. You want me to give you the out."
She swigs her whiskey and says nothing.
He snorts, incredulous. "I'm tryin', here. I really wanna be in yah're corner but yah ain't makin' it easy. Yah keep insistin' yah're not a kid, well then, yah don't jus' get to act like it whenever it suits yah. Yah're comin' to the damned service. It ain't a suggestion anymore." He slips past her to head further into the house.
She chases after, clenching the bottle so tight now that her knuckles turn white. Anger heats her blood, mostly irrational, but there's a thought that's been eating at her mind for days already and holding her tongue right now isn't an option. Her eyes turn gold and a Wild Thing is what barks at him. "Seventeen years."
He freezes, but doesn't turn around.
"You left Ma an' me to figure shit out on our own for seventeen years. I had to kill a man at fourteen because you couldn't be bothered to fight for your mate and then you just waltzed back in as though none of that mattered and now she's gone and it wouldn't've happened if not for you!" She storms across the room and shoves him angrily, all control lost for a moment. "How dare you think you can tell me to do anything if I don't feel like it, old man?" What she fails to take note of in her current state, is the fact that Logan didn't move an inch when she shoved him. She shoves him again even, and it should be with considerable force, she's hardly controlling her strength. "I could..I could -"
But he's about as moveable as a brick wall.
A low growl rumbles up past his lips as he rounds on her, abrupt. Eyes flushed with gold to match hers, the Wolverine stalks towards her, backing her up slowly. "You could do what, runt? Just what do you think yah're gonna do to me, soused as yah are?"
The looks in his eyes, the set of his shoulders, the way he's hovering over her so closely. There's a real threat there. She's actually pissed him off. All at once she remembers herself. The bottle slips from her hand to hit the floor as her animal retreats at once and she scrambles to back up. "Nothin'." She stutters. "Nothin', sir. I'm so-sorry, sir." The bottle rolls across the floor and ends up behind her; she stumbles over it and falls backwards, hitting the floor hard. The room spins a bit.
He reaches down to haul her to her feet by her shirt collar and back her up the rest of the way to the wall. "Now I know Joanie mighta missed a few things, tryin' to bring yah up right without knowin' what yah are. But I do know she woulda taught you better than to go layin' hands on someone like that."
"That's rich comin' from you, eh?" The words slip from her lips without her full permission.
He lifts her so her back slides up the wall and her feet leave the floor all together, letting out another growl as he does so. "If yah didn't learn respect her way, then yah'll learn it my way now. Sober up or don't, it's no skin off my nose, but you are comin' to your mother's funeral, and so help me if you cause trouble like this there you will learn why folks mostly don't fuck with the Wolverine anymore. Am I clear, pipsqueak?"
"Yes. Yes, sir. As crystal."
He drops her without ceremony and backs away a few paces, but his eyes remain flushed with gold. She really pissed him off. He scowls down at her. "Take a damned shower. There's mud on yahr cheek and yah smell like a distillery. Yahr mother would be ashamed." He stalks out of the room.
She stares after him with wide eyes, heart racing, and quietly decides that she probably, really does not want to learn why people don't pick fights like that with the Wolverine these days.
Nope. She really does not.
…
She cleans herself up some and attends the service. She keeps quiet and to herself and behaves, mostly, because it's just for a few hours, and her grandfather doesn't deserve the headache. People offer their condolences, polite and respectful, but don't bother her much beyond that.
Logan shoves some food and a water bottle at her and demands she consume some of each. She does as she's told, contrite, though she continues sneaking sips from the whiskey in her pocket.
She and Logan don't exchange a further word.
…
People try to call her, leaving messages, trying to check on her. Her grandfather, Tash, Ms. Munroe after a few days, even Sarah, all expressing some level of worry for her. They all mean well. But... Some mean little part of her just doesn't want to hear it. Talking doesn't help, and she doesn't need peoples pity, either.
Eventually, she just turns off her phone.
…
She's outside again, laid out in the grass staring up at the sky just as stars begin to blink into visibility, when Kelly comes for her.
"Hey."
She sits up, eyebrow raised.
He's wearing a plain white t-shirt beneath hand-me-down black leather. "Come with me." He all but demands, tossing her leather jacket to her.
She gets to her feet and puts the jacket on. "Where to?"
He leads her around to the large garage out near the barn. "Does it matter?" He questions, strolling forward to take the tarp off a shiny red motorcycle. He gets on and starts the thing up and just waits, expectant.
She doesn't say no, of course.
They stop for food at a tiny place just off the highway.
"I know where we're headed." She says.
"I figured you'd guess."
"You sure you're ready for a night like that?" She raises an eyebrow.
"I know it's just what you need." He counters.
They eat and get back on the 'bike.
The Warehouse is a storm of activity. It's Friday night and people are just getting started for the evening. The shouts of excitement are audible even from where Kelly parks the 'bike. Jamie hasn't been much in the mood for really anything that she might usually consider 'fun', but the promise of what awaits her at this place has adrenaline already flooding her veins. Maybe this is just what she needs.
"Lot of new faces." She says, looking around.
"Yeah. Hunter's brother got in some kind of trouble, he's gone now, and without him or you around Hunter left, too. Guess a few more followed him out. It's a whole different crowd these days."
Brows furrowed, she eyes Kelly up. "You kept up with all that? This was never your scene."
"Well. I, uh, guess I learned to enjoy a bit of excitement with you around. Things got a little too quiet after you left."
"You've been comin' all the way out here? How often?"
As if on queue, a rather curvaceous woman wearing short-shorts and a lacy halter top calls out a husky, awfully familiar greeting to Kelly just as he and Jamie pass by.
Jamie raises an eyebrow at him, a smirk playing at her lips. "Well, well. Kelly Montgomery. Hangin' around a place like this and flirtin' with skimpy bar flies, now what has become of you?"
His cheeks have turned red as fresh picked apples. "Well. Huh. I don't know about you, darlin', but I sure could use a beer." He heads off towards the bar.
She shakes her head and begins sizing up the crowd they're now surrounded by. There are a lot of new faces working the place, but she spots a few familiar ones too, and then of course there's the usual bar flies as well as a general assortment of roughnecks and tattooed leather heads. She contemplates her current position. They'd all still know her up here, if not by face then certainly the minute she gives her name, and the folks running the show would always love nothing more than to throw a known cash cow up in the Big Ring. But time tends to slip by fast and easy when she gets going like that and if she and Kelly don't shuffle back home until late, with her smelling of sweat and beer...
She's on such shaky ground with Logan as it is, and rightfully so. May be best not to push her luck.
Kelly reappears at her side, handing her a beer. "You gonna get up there, or...?"
"I don't know. Might just hang around and watch this time, honestly."
"You? Just, watchin'?"
"Yeah. Mean, don't yah s'ppose I've had enough excitement over the last couple days?"
"I was s'pposin' yah'd be needin' to really blow off some steam right about now."
She studies him a minute. "You..wanna see me up there. Don't yah?"
There's mischief in his eyes. "I mean. You found us some hell to raise enough times but I never actually came here, saw you up there. Figure it's about time I see what my Wild Thing can really do."
She raises an eyebrow.
"Uh! A Wild Thing. I meant it's about time...I wanna see what...a Wild Thing, not, not 'my'...sorry, darlin'. Habit. I know yah got a guy, now."
Right. About that. She swigs her beer. "Uh. That...may or may not be... a bit in question."
"Oh. Jesus, that's a foot pretty far in my mouth, eh? I had no idea." One of the Warehouse's serving girls wanders past, clipboard in hand. He flags her down and gesture to Jamie. "Look, just go on. I won't tell anybody where we were tonight, 'kay? Could be our secret. You deserve a break of some kind."
"Gotta feelin' I'm gonna regret this one." Jamie adds her name to the list on the clipboard, anyway. The serving girl checks it and then offers a wide grin before darting off back towards the bar.
.
~Jake~
Part of him wants to call her, see if she'll answer.
He paces the Mansion, keeping to his usual routine, helping out where he's needed and running errands for his mother now she's back. The Weather Witch has seemed restless, on edge, but no more or less so than expected given the ordeal she'd been put through. Sarah's seemed a little off, but this is also expected given the new threat she and Jake had encountered with their clandestine escapade a few weeks earlier. And he and his father still aren't really talking at the moment, but hell, even that's not the end of the world now that his mother has been returned to them.
He'd have more energy to focus on all that if it weren't for the fact that he's about 99% sure he and Jamie had just broken up completely, and over a phone call no less. God, the frustration of it all is killing him. He knows she must not be thinking clear, considering things. But months without seeing her is starting to wear him thin, in more ways than one.
Part of him wants to call her. But a part of him is also too proud to risk sounding like he's begging.
It's Friday night and he has no desire to try and go to bed. He slips outside to have a smoke and walk the grounds a bit in the quiet of the night but it just isn't helping, so he makes his way down to the Danger Room next. Maybe a real workout will fix him up for a while.
Except the Danger Room is already occupied.
.
~Jamie~
"How 'bout a shot?"
"I'm not sure I should be..."
"You're worried your Pops wouldn't approve, aren't yah?" Kelly's brows furrow. "Uh, not that I mean to pressure you into anythin', 'cause I don't. But since when are you so concerned with things like parental disapproval? With him, no less?"
"Just what the hell do yah mean by that?" She scowls.
"Well, yah know. It ain't like he's been around for long. Erm, no, no, I'm sorry, again. Foot in mouth. This ain't my business, I don't know what I'm on tonight. S'just weird seein' the way you react to 'im, is all. I'm impressed with how forgivin' you are. S'like in the old days, the way you were with your grandmother when she still had a leash on yah."
She raises both eyebrows now.
"Oh, c'mon, gorgeous. You know I'm right and don't give me that look. I'm not afraid of you."
Jamie remembers the arguement she'd had with Logan just a few evenings prior. She'd been drunk and it had come out all wrong, and she'd very much crossed a line. But it hadn't just been drunken rambling, the thought had come from somewhere. She has been too forgiving, and the pressure of keeping it up is beginning to wear on her.
Wild Thing stirs at the thought, approving. Bad enough the Snake Lady gets to give us orders. Since when is it ok when anybody else tells us what to do?
She orders three shots and hands one off to Kelly just as they call her name for a match.
.
~Jake~
Sarah flies across the room with impressive control, clearly well practiced. Her simulated opponents are picked off one by one and rather spectacularly with blasts from her primary power but it's the telekenesis that has him in awe. Didn't she used to have to concentrate harder? It had never been so powerful before. Now the room is a flurry with activity, objects thrown and enemies sent flying without her ever having to touch them. He's in the observation room to the side, watching quietly, but it doesn't take long for him to decide to just see what happens.
He slips into the Danger Room just as the current simulation runs it's course and the room falls silent. "Hey."
.
~Jamie~
She's in the Big Ring. She always is when she comes back, now. Makes sense, with the way they're doing it this time. Ten minutes in with her, that's all the fighters have to survive. She does multiple fights, back to back. One would think there'd eventually be a shortage of idiots willing to get in the ring with her, but these days they know her so well by name that for some the novelty is worth it. Even though they're bound to lose, lasting more than even five minutes with Wildthing is enough to offer some bragging rights. And some do last longer than that, though none last the full ten. Granted, most of them that make it close only really do so because she's putting on a show.
The bell rings many a time this night.
She's shirtless, wearing only a training bra up top. Kelly's eyebrows had shot up when she first took off her flannel, showing off an impressive amount of new muscle. He hadn't said anything, but she's fairly certain she knows the look he's had in his eye ever since. He's enjoying the show she's putting on. Really enjoying it.
She steps down after an hour or so and makes her way back over to him.
.
~Jake~
"Hey." He calls out quietly in the silence of the Danger Room.
Sarah starts and spins around quick, tense. Her hand flies up to her visor.
Jake holds up his hands in surrender. "Easy."
"Oh!" Her hand drops immediately. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean..what are you doing down here so late?"
"Couldn't sleep, same as you I assume?"
"Yeah." She rakes a hand through her hair. "Yeah, I get restless lately. I figure, at least if I come down here I can be doing something productive."
"I was watching you. Uh, just for a minute. You're amazing, Sarah. I had no idea the telekinesis had developed that far."
She avoids eye contact. "Well, it hadn't. Uhm. I told you, I'd been having the nightmare again."
"Oh. Still that bad?"
She shrugs. "Is what it is. But a couple weeks ago, the night after we encountered that new security drone, it was different again. I heard mom's voice and then I felt..." She trails off oddly, as if she'd been about to say something she shouldn't. "Well. The point is, when I woke up, it was like – I don't know. Like someone had broken down some kind of wall for me, the entire bedroom was shaking. When I went to practice down here again, it was immediately like you saw. I don't know where I've been drawing it from but it feels incredible." A bit of a pause. "You wanna run a session with me?"
"I thought you'd never ask."
.
~Jamie~
Kelly's waiting at the bar with two more shots for her and an excited grin. "I'm kinda sorry I never came up here before. You're a helluva show, darlin'."
"Damn straight, I am." She replies, cocky, downing her shots. "Wanna take a walk? I need a smoke."
He follows her outside. "So be honest. Were you always this good?"
She raises an eyebrow at him as she lights her cigar. "What do you yah mean?"
"Well, I know yah started comin' up her at like, what, thirteen or somethin'? But there's no way you were beatin' 'em up that easy then."
"I didn't step in a cage for the first time 'til a year after I first came here, an' even then, Teirney and Hunter's brother had a close eye on me 'cause I was young and 'cause they knew I'd drum up more business in the long run if they played things right. I did only lose a couple times, but they were pickin' and choosin' who I got in there with an' besides that, I had the element of surprise, no one was expectin' me to hit hard as I could bein' so small."
A pause. He's a little more subdued asking his next question. "It ever occur to you that it really wasn't right? Them throwin' yah in there like that so young, even considerin' what yah could do?" She breaks out in laughter now, so abrupt it seems to startle Kelly. He scowls. "What the hell's so funny?"
Still giggling, she shakes her head. "They didn't throw me in anywhere! I practically begged 'em. I wanted it more than I'd ever wanted anythin'. A way to let off steam without havin' to hold myself back so much, it sounded fun."
He shakes his head, half laughing himself now. "Ah. So your idea of 'fun' was always just a little off."
"Hey. Comin' here tonight was your suggestion, hot stuff."
"I knew what I wanted."
"Oh? And what is it that yah wanted, exactly?"
"Well. To be honest..."
.
~Jake~
By God, she's magnificent.
He hates himself for the thought because he and Jamie had only just (maybe?) broken up days ago. But he's only human and damnit, right now Sarah Summers is somehow managing to push all the right buttons, all at once. Her expression is fierce, her control over her powers is impeccable, her confidence is unwavering to spite the simulation being set to level ten, and to top it all off she's gained some more muscle since she's been coming down here like this more often.
The simulation ends itself again as the last of their simulated opponents falls to Jake's claws. Sarah lands herself a few paces from him and sits herself against the wall to rest a moment, smirking up at him. "Magnificent? Better be careful, I might start to think you actually like me again."
He scowls at her. "You heard, huh?"
"You're projecting kind of loud." Her tone turns apologetic. "Sorry."
It's not really her fault and he couldn't stay angry at her right now if he tried. "It's alright. Uh, I'm sorry, actually. I've been kinda restless too." His cheeks heat up. Thankfully, she probably can't tell since said cheeks are hidden beneath an ocean of blue fur.
Her eyebrows raise. "Restless."
"Yeah. Restless."
"Ah. Well." She gets back to her feet. There's something behind her eyes, something almost... "I can leave you to it down here. If you want." It's definitely not what she wants. "But I'm kinda getting the idea that's not what you want at all."
He blows out a breath. "Whew. What I want, uhm. I'm not sure you can help me with what I really want just at the moment."
She cocks her head, moving in a little closer to him. "Can't I? Your girlfriend isn't here. She hasn't bothered for how long?"
"Sarah Jean."
.
~Jamie~
"...to be honest, darlin', I'm not sure what I was expectin'." Kelly's dodging. "You're spoken for, or at least, I still thought yah were when I decided to take yah up here. You know me. I would never put yah in that position."
"I know. You were always too good for me. I appreciate that about yah."
"Well, the thing is now, darlin'. If you're not spoken for anymore." He meets her eyes. There's a question in his.
She brings her cigar up to her lips, thoughtful now, and doesn't offer a rebuttal.
.
~Jake~
"Don't 'Sarah Jean' me, Jacob Charles." The redhead snaps at him, eyes narrowing. "It's just us down here, damnit."
"You'd love it, wouldn't you?" He barks at her. "If I just flew into your arms right now so you could throw it in her face later?"
She backs away. All at once, retreating like a puppy that just got kicked in the ribs. "No. No, that's not what I... I'm sorry, alright? I just, I miss you, and I know that she – I mean, that the two of you – I only brought it up because I was hoping you'd come out and tell me -"
"You know we broke up." He finishes for her, realization dawning.
"Yeah. I'm so sorry, I know it's not my business but it's all you've been thinking about, it'd be impossible for me not to have read it out of you, and I don't know, when you showed up down here just now, I thought maybe -"
Impulse strikes him. Her eyes have gone wide and a little watery and she seems genuinely distressed at the thought he might be angry with her and damnit, he and Jamie did break up, didn't they? That's the only way to interpret the conversation, if he's honest. And it's just been so long.
He darts forward and pulls Sarah in for a kiss. There's no more talking done afterwards.
.
~Jamie~
She doesn't stop him. There's a part of her that wants this, too. Even her animal doesn't seem to mind the idea. Future-mate gave up too easy. Can't be mad if we find someone else to just scratch the itch.
Kelly kisses her and his lips are warm and soft. He pulls her in closer and his touch is gentle but urgent. She lets him explore a minute, trailing his hand down to... and it wouldn't be the first time she'd taken care of this kind of business in a somewhat more unconventional place, there's no real reason they can't find...
"Now Ah sure as hell hope yah're drunk again, peaches." A voice drawls, slow and sassy. "Because if yah aren't then this conversations about to get a whole lot less pleasant."
Jamie pulls out of the kiss, huffing out a low growl and mixing it with a scowl. "Alright, this ain't what it looks like."
Rogue just places her hands on her hips.
Kelly brings a hand up to rub at the back of his neck. "Uh. Darlin'?"
"I'll catch up with yah back inside." Jamie answers gruffly. "I'm gonna need a drink after this."
He nods and wanders off towards the Warehouse, looking a little dazed.
Rogue huffs a growl. "Ah know yah got a lot goin' on right now. But none of that would justify this, peaches. Ah hope yah know that."
"It isn't what it looks like. Jake an' I are kinda...complicated right now. I wouldn't even be thinkin' about what I just was, otherwise."
"Kinda complicated ain't the same as 'over'."
"It's close enough in this case." Jamie sucks on her cigar and prays for patience, because she's running well out of it at this point.
"That's a thin line yah're treadin'. Ah ain't yahr -"
"Ma. No, yah're not my Ma." Jamie barks back. "So don't try to act like yah are. What are yah even doin' here anyway?"
"Ah saw yah two head off on his bike and Ah figured yah had to be headin' here if yah were headin' anywhere. Ah thought'd be fun to have a drink and watch yah for a while, is all."
"Well yah coulda let me know yah were comin'."
"Ah tried. Yah ain't answerin' yah phone no more, which is worryin' enough on it's own, by the way, and quit dodgin' meh. Did you an' Jake actually split?"
Jamie scrubs a hand through her hair. "We haven't talked again since, and the conversation ended pretty short besides, and no I do not want to talk about it with anyone else now, not even you. But yes. As of right now we aren't together. Give me some credit, will yah?"
Rogue relaxes visibly, letting out a breath. "Alright, alright. My apologies then." A pause. Her brows furrow. "How the devil did that even happen? An' when? Yah only been awake a handful o' days." Her tone turns a little gentler. "You sure yah don't wanna talk, sugah? That's a lot to -"
Jamie scoffs. "Give me a break." She stamps out her cigar and turns to head back inside.
…
It's the dead of night when she and Kelly emerge from the garage where his 'bike is safely parked again. He runs a hand through his hair and presses a kiss to her cheek before heading off inside the house. She trails after him but slower, enjoying the peaceful silence.
Her brows furrow as she approaches the houses front porch. "I know it's late." She says quietly.
Logan doesn't move from his position, leaned against the rail staring out into the night. "S'alright, kid. You enjoy yourself?" There's no hint of sarcasm or hostility or accusation in his voice.
"Yeah, actually. We did." She comes to stand next to him.
He raises an eyebrow at her. "'We', huh?"
"Yeah. For tonight, it was 'we'." And no, she will not be offering up anything further where that's concerned. What did or did not happen in the past few hours is none of her father's business.
But that doesn't seem to be where Logan's headed with it. "He's a good kid, got a real good head on his shoulders. You considered just hangin' around up here for a while? Could use all the help I can get once your siblings are released."
A bit of a pause. She shakes her head. "You don't..want me..around them. Not now."
He glances sharply at her. "Be awful nice, yah know? If yah'd just tell me straight. What's goin' on with you?"
She thinks of the senator she'd been forced to get to know. Who is now very dead. "I can't. Tell you, Pops." She needs him to get it. Please, get it, old man, I can never be sure of when their listening. "I can't."
He puffs the cigar, and mercifully, nods once. "Alright. If you say so. I don't know who your 'they' is. But it's only gonna get worse, the longer you let 'them' drag it out. I been there, kid."
"I'm not so sure there's any turnin' back now. I wish I'd have known -"
He cuts her off, scowling, his tone growing abruptly harsh. "Spare me the bullshit."
She stutters, taken off guard. "B-bullshit? I don't... I don't understand, I didn't..."
"No, I know what you're doin', and it is bullshit. Look, you were right, a few days ago -"
"No." Jamie cuts in quickly. "I know what I said but Ma was excited to be pregnant again, what happened isn't -"
"You got every right to be feelin' angry over that too but that's not what I meant. Whatever's goin' on with you now, I know it wouldn't be happenin' if I'd been there earlier to keep an eye on yah like I should've. And it isn't fair to you that your ma let me back in so easy after all that, you've been way more forgivin' than a lot of kids would've been in your position. For whatever it's worth, I'm proud of you for that and I'm sorry for everythin' else." His tone changes again, becomes borderline hostile. "But I gave you the chance a couple times to tell me if yah needed help and you said 'no', so you don't get to go all 'woe is me' now. The folks you're workin' for, how'd they get you?"
"Uhm. My stepfather, mainly." She hedges automaticly. "They implied they had evidence."
"Your mother told me the cops had been called on him multiple times for different reasons and he was a known drunk." Logan counters succinctly. "Even if they knew you killed him, there'd have been a lot standin' in between you and whatever punishment yah were worried about considerin' he disappeared when you were still a child and yahr mother would've told the authorities about what else happened that night. I know there's more."
"Conversations over." She makes as if to head back inside.
"James." His tone low and gruff. Not a warning. A command.
Just 'James'. Not 'Carol James', not 'kid' but said with that particular warning tone. Somehow, just 'James' feels...worse.
She mutters curses under her breath and crosses her arms as she turns back around, feeling petulant. "Yah already know what kinda crowd I was runnin' with."
"That's not an answer, and yahr not goin' anywhere until yah give me one."
She huffs a growl. "Christ, I don't even know where to start. It's mostly T's fault anyway..."
Things come out in no particular order. She tells him about the car she took for a joy ride and the cop she'd bribed. About the time she was poisoned and what she did to the guy after T tracked him down. About the time the one guy hit her with his truck and what she did to him (and his truck...) when he showed back up.
Then about the time a different friend of Jamie's, one of the few she made in school, got assaulted by some older guy. Jamie did the tracking down that time. That guy left town with a splinted leg looking like he'd been hit by a long haul truck and no one had heard from him since.
Then, a little more hesitantly, about the other bits of general degeneracy that T had instigated – though, to be fair, Jamie hadn't argued. There was the time T picked a fight with the budding cult that had taken over the abandoned farm a ways outside of town, doing so solely on the bases that she had Jamie to help put them in their place. (Jamie admits, here, that she knew why T picked the fight. The cult was selling certain, very illegal..well. Jamie never asked for details, she just knew T was in competition with them.) Jamie had done various jobs of this nature for T on a few other occasions, never asking questions as long as she was somehow compensated – which she was, in different ways but quite generously for a teenager. To be somewhat fair, it wasn't like anyone she helped deal with was an angel themselves. They had all likely had some kind of punishment coming anyway. Or, at least, that's what she'd always told herself.
In retrospect, it's no wonder Ouroboros had set their sights on her. She had been busy, hadn't she?
The scowl on Logan's face deepens gradually as she talks. Eventually, she trails off, and for a long while, all is silent.
"You got a smoke?" He says, at length.
Her brows furrow. They haven't talked about it, but she hasn't seen him smoke in so long that she'd kind of just assumed the old man quit. The thought wasn't as astounding as it would've once been, he'd been different since he and Joan had become a thing again and everyone had noticed. She's tempted to say she doesn't have one because she feels bad she's driving him back to it but he'd know she was lying. So she pulls out her last cigar and just hands it to him with a lighter and says nothing.
He lights it up, puffs it, and is silent again.
After another short while, she opens her mouth, trying to think of something, anything she can say in her own defense, but to tell the truth, there isn't anything. So instead she just turns around and quietly makes to head back inside.
"James." He stops her again, though quieter this time, sounding tired.
She turns around and crosses her arms. "Yes, sir." She answers, respectful.
"You're my daughter. If it was up to me, I'd say you're always welcome wherever I am. It's what Joanie would want, doesn't matter the circumstances."
"...yes, sir." Softer this time.
He turns to her, and there's something hard and unforgiving about the look in his gold-flushed eyes and the set of his shoulders. He speaks slowly, as if choosing his words. "But if everything you've just told me is true, then we have a problem. These guys that have you now, whoever your 'they' is. They're gonna be watchin' you and with good reason. What you just described is... It don't look good, kid. You're a dangerous one. Like me. So much like me. Shit, how could Joanie not have seen it?"
Jamie only shakes her head.
"The kitling's need safety, a real den and the promise that it won't be compromised."
"I dug my own hole." She uncrosses her arms and throws her shoulders back. "I wouldn't -"
"But you already did, didn't you?" He snaps, voice a growl now. "Everything that's happened and you're still thinkin' like a kid, you don't realize what you've done! From this point forward anyone that you're known to care about, they're not a person anymore, they're leverage, and your handlers will use that up until there's nothin' left if you give 'em reason to. And you will, eventually." He looks away, bringing the cigar up to take a drag. "I should tell yah just get the hell away and stay away. Aw, but yahr ma just..." He shakes his head and spits curses under his breath.
He's right. Her mind races. Her stomach feels queasy. Her hands shake. He's right. The thought had half occurred to her before but she hadn't followed the train along to it's natural conclusion until now.
A plan begins forming itself. She'll have to... but for now she just blows out a breath. "I'm sorry." She murmurs, quiet and subdued.
Silence for a long moment. He puffs the cigar one last time and hands it off to her. "Yeah, kid. Me too." He presses a kiss to her temple, and leaves her to her thoughts.