Metal shrapnel clattered to the ground. She sliced another chunk of sentinel plating and the thing finally dropped her. She hit the ground, breaking one leg and spraining the other knee, and waited the brief moment before they healed. She sprang back to her feet, just barely dodging a pulse shot.
Each slice of her claws was a cut off her screaming mind. She couldn't take thinking anymore. Every time she closed her eyes she saw him, crushed in the downed jet. She couldn't stop it, so instead she fought.
Another sentinel reached to grip her around her waist. With a single slice the thing's hand came off and joined the heap of tempered metal beneath her feet.
The danger room setting wasn't actually at Logan's level, bone clays couldn't cut as easily as adamantium, but Rogue had it set as high as she could make it go. Xavier tried to keep her under level eight, but she knew the feeling of his mental nudging, and she'd made such a fuss that he actually backed off. Actually, people seemed to be doing that a lot lately, like they didn't want to make her too upset.
Gritting her teeth, Rogue sliced a long gash in one sentinel's leg. The thing exploded, knocking her across the room. She hit the wall so hard it kicked in the safety protocols, and the program shut down. She cursed under her breath, waiting for the room to stop spinning. When was the computer going to realize she wasn't going to die?
That last thought made her freeze. No. She wasn't going to die, not for a long, long time, and the healer, the immortal Wolverine, was dead, covered in dirt behind the school. She hadn't gone to the funeral, but she knew where his burial was. She stayed far away from it.
Wiping the moister from her eyes, she got up. Strange how she never truly cried anymore. It was only a little moisture, not enough to make a tear. She guessed it had something to do with Logan's pride. Whatever.
Grabbing a towel from her locker, she started wiping off when her enhanced hearing picked up a piece of conversation.
"We need to talk."
That was Scott. He didn't sound too far away, maybe in the ready room down the next hall.
"What is it?'
That was Xavier. He sounded tired, really tired. Rogue was beginning to worry about him. He'd been that way since the crash.
There was a short pause, then Scott's voice again.
"Where are they?"
"Rogue is in the Danger Room."
"Again?"
"She has a lot of anger right now. She needs to work it out."
"Professor, don't you think this has gone on long enough? I mean, he almost killed Jean last night. If I hadn't-"
"He wouldn't have killed her."
"How do you know? You said it yourself. You haven't been able to get inside her head for days."
"Scott, please trust my judgment."
"They deserve to know-"
He cut off. By this time, Rogue was only one door away from them. The longer she listened, the colder she felt. What were they hiding? A second later, Scott opened the door. He looked at her for a moment then turned and stocked away. She entered the room.
"Professor?" she asked.
"Yes? Ah, come in." He was shutting down a monitor, for all the world looking like he hadn't just had a heated argument with his star pupil.
"I was wondering if you could take a look at the safety protocols in the Danger Room," she said. If he could pretend nothing happened, she could too.
"What's wrong with them?"
"The thing just turned off in the middle of a session."
He finished his fiddling and turned completely towards her. He studied her eyes for a moment before shaking his head.
"They set themselves. You know that," he replied.
"But it's like the computer doesn't realize I have Logan's powers," she countered.
"Rogue, I believe the controls are accurate. Have patience."
She closed her eyes. She could feel it, the anger building up. Anything set her off these days, and she didn't want to snap at Xavier. After a moment, she could finally speak without adding a snarl.
"Thanks anyway," she muttered and turned to leave. She wanted to find Slim, find out what he was angry about. She didn't like the fact that he had mentioned her in his argument. And did she just call Scott Slim?
**
Logan rested against the rough bark of an oak tree, two or three limbs up from the bottom. Slowly he worked bits of wood free from the branch before him, watching them fall to the ground below. When a roar sounded over the schoolhouse, he closed his eyes. The others set off on a mission, leaving him behind for "obvious reasons."
"Obvisous reasons." He just about flayed the Professor for that one. What was so obvious about it? Was he being band from missions because he couldn't focus or because they were afraid he'd take out his anger on Magneto, or Electro, or whoever the hell they were fighting next? In his opinion, both were stupid reasons. No matter how many shots someone got in, he'd finish the job, and didn't he always take out his anger on the enemy?
He smelt a light frost and sighed. Great, he thought as Bobby approached the tree's base.
"Hey," the teen called.
"Hey, Icecube." He could see the kid tense. It was just the two of them for now. Everyone else was needed for the mission.
"Um, so what are you doing?"
"Just thinking," he muttered.
Bobby fidgeted a moment longer. He seemed expectant, but Logan couldn't tell for what so he didn't offer anything. Finally Bobby gave up.
"Well, if you…want to think out loud or something, I'll be inside," he said.
"Thanks, kid." He really meant it. The two of them had never been close, but the teen was surprisingly supportive. Logan wouldn't take him up on the offer, but it was nice anyway.
Bobby paused a moment longer before nodding silently and heading back to the mansion.
Logan watched him go. When he lost sight of his teammate, he returned to chipping pieces out of the tree branch, listening to the soft snap of protest each made before finally giving way.
For an instant, something about his claw changed. The color seemed to fade, dimming from its shining silver to a light tan, but the effect disappeared immediately. He studied the claw for a long time, but it didn't change again. Chalking the experience up to nerves, he retracted his claw and dropped to the ground.
**
Images flashed before Rogue's eyes. Most prominent was the crash, the look of the ground inches beyond the window, about to mangle jet and occupants. The scene in the basement levels intertwined with it, Scott's scowl and Xavier's pointedly ignorant look. She heard their voices.
"She has a lot of anger right now."
"Don't you think this has gone on long enough?"
"Please, trust my judgment."
"They deserve to know."
The roar of the busted jet engine and the blare of alarms mingled with their argument. Then suddenly Logan's face appeared, taking up her full vision. She started awake.
She sat at the base of a tree in the back yard. Funny, she didn't remember coming outside, let alone falling asleep. She stretched her soar neck and got up, wiping chipped pieces of wood from her clothes.
The rest of the team was on a mission, she knew that for a fact. She couldn't catch a fresh scent of any of them, that is, except for Bobby. He must have been left behind. Maybe there were "obvious reasons" behind his grounding too.
Noting Bobby and Xavier's positions in the mansion, she headed to a door far enough away from them to make it inside without confrontation. Her whole body felt soar. It adjusted quickly, but it was still stiff. She must have been out for a while.
Rogue headed for her room, trying to decide between a nap and another Danger Room session. Suddenly she stopped, breathing in sharply. Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed something. Not something, someone. Someone she shouldn't have seen. She backed up and looked to where the image had been, only to be met with uncertain hazel eyes. It was her reflection in the mirror.
It took a while for her to get over her shock. She could have sworn she'd seen him, green eyes, styled black hair, but it was just her own reflection. She watched her image for a long time, wishing his would come back. As she stood there, she caught a low voice.
"-impossible to tell when it will happen. I don't know how much longer I can keep up the mental blocks."
"Should you?" That was Bobby.
Rogue scowled. Was everyone arguing with Xavier now? She turned from the mirror and finished her walk to her room. She was getting tired of secrets, tired of people tip-toeing around her. In fact, she was just plain tired. She decided to take a nap. At least she knew what to expect from her nightmares.