Marvel owns the X-men, no profit is to be made from this work.
"When you said it was a school..." Layla said in a hushed tone as they pulled up to the gates.
In the three years Marie had been gone it hadn't changed, at least on the outside, still looking the same and stirring the ghosts the place held. Sitting with Abby in the back with Layla taking her turn to drive, she saw the eager urge to explore filling the girl and had to smile.
"You alright Abby, not too loud?" Marie asked concerned.
"No...just sounds like when I'm at school, ya know in the halls between classes. Noisy but okay." Abby said with eyes only for the aged estate.
Giving her a hug she remembered her time at this very school, walking between the small classes with her friends. Not trusting herself then she started singing just to banish the thoughts, nothing Abby needed to know...at least not yet. Pulling up out front, the doors opened and she felt her breath catch as he walked out dressed the same as always, jeans and some T with his leather jacket left open. Logan looked to her and she swore she could see relief in his eyes, feeling it too after the long drive back. Climbing out, she walked ahead of Layla and Abby ready to make introductions.
"Hi..." Marie started, feeling sixteen all over again looking up to him on the steps.
"Hey...it's good to see ya..." Logan said, his gaze lingering.
"He thinks you're pretty Marie." Abby said as matter of factually as any worldly ten year old.
Hearing Layla's gasp Marie turned to look to the two and found herself blushing as she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. Looking there she found Logan standing with her eyeballing Abby with one questioning eyebrow. Abby just looked to him fearlessly, nodding yes once and then shaking her head no, finally shrugging.
"So this is our new mini mind reader eh? Nice ta meet ya kid." Logan said as he crouched and offered a hand.
Abby took it and shook it, looking past Logan as the doors opened again. Turning to look Marie let a gasp out in kind with Layla but for very different reasons, not having seen him for so very long. Dressed casually but sporting the collar of a priest, Kurt Wagner stepped out and looked suddenly apologetic. Fearlessly Abby ran up to him and gawked at him.
"Sorry Herr Logan, I didn't know we had company." Kurt replied in a gentle voice.
Reaching for Layla's hand, Marie walked her up to meet the man she had only known a short time herself but had then so easily found herself endeared to.
"Mister Wagner?" Marie asked, a smile given in answer to her.
"Please, Kurt is fine. Rogue wasn't it?" Kurt asked in return.
"Marie...now. Kurt, this is Layla and that girl catchin' flies is Abby." Marie introduced for both with a glance to Logan.
"Can I?" Abby asked reaching for his hand.
Kurt smiled a toothy grin and nodded, holding his hand out for her to take. Running her fingers over his Abby held her palm to his comparing them. Whatever fear Layla held had passed, seeing how gentle the man with the fearsome visage really was. Catching the playful look in Kurt's eye, Marie found him looking past to Logan who just shrugged.
"Ask the kid's mom before ya go showin' off, and make sure you do it up wind this time." Logan rumbled.
"Mom can I, please?!" Abby asked eagerly of her mother.
Marie recalled suddenly just what Abby might be so looking forward to, remembering Kurt's gift. Shaking her head at the antics, Marie turned to Layla and gave an encouraging nod.
"Don't worry, it's perfectly safe girl. Kurt's got a special way ta travel but I won't spoil the surprise." Marie said.
"Well...only if I'm with you Abby." Layla said sternly to her daughter.
Watching as Kurt took both their hands in his own, the pious man looked to Logan grinning. Hearing Logan swear behind her she knew what was coming as the characteristic Bamf sounded, a cloud of sulfurous smoke left in his wake.
"Damn elf." Logan growled as he caught sight of them further down the lawn, Layla looking surprised to find herself elsewhere in a moment.
With another Bamf sounding in the distance they were gone with the peals of laughter from Abby lost to the breeze. Shaking her head, Marie knew however hard it might be to be back, that she had made the right choice. Turning on Logan she felt she had proved one thing though with what Abby had let slip.
"So...ya think I'm pretty huh?" Marie asked with her own questioning brow raised in parody of him.
"Yeah...ya grew up good, never doubted it for a minute." Logan answered.
"So, no more kid?" Marie asked.
"No promises, but...I'll try." Logan replied after a long lingering look.
Blushing anew she felt a touch triumphant then, walking past him to gather the bags from the car. Feeling his hand on her back she thrilled at the touch, the school a reminder of just how long she had been denied those simple embraces. His hand slipped to her shoulder and relieved her of a duffle, throwing it over his own and turning her on down the drive.
"C'mon, I'll show ya to the carriage house. Don't know if ya knew about it, it was kinda grown over when we found it." Logan explained.
"What about her car?" Marie asked with a look back.
"Eh, I saw the keys in it, I'll have a look at that rad later. Lets go play welcome wagon." Logan said just carrying on.
Walking with him down the lawn she found herself looking in the windows of the school and seeing classes being taught, so many new faces in there with only a few she thought she might have known years before.
"That's Theresa alright..." Logan remarked after following her gaze.
"What? No, she's...wow..." Marie whispered as she realized the little girl she remembered had grown up.
"Bunch of new faces around, it was hard for a while but between Furball and Wings we got our ducks in a row. Ro's off on business but she'll be back soon enough." Logan ambled on in silence for a time, pointing on off the edge of the brush.
Looking there she saw it now, it looked more a cottage than a carriage house. A porch wrapped around the front with a balcony hugging what she thought must have been the hay loft. There was even a porch swing that Layla and Abby sat waiting on waving, Kurt himself just leaning against the railing.
"When did he come back?" Marie asked thinking of how quickly he had left before.
"Bout a year after...ya know. He's teachin' stuff like ethics and what not, some gymnastics and even helped the kids start a fencing club." Logan explained.
Finally meeting her friends, Marie found herself dragged in by Abby who showed the house, pointing out all the things. There was a fireplace with a large screen over the mantle, a country kitchen that joined a breakfast nook. Shown upstairs she couldn't believe how big the hay loft really was, room enough for two bedrooms and a bath. Looking at a painting that hung on the wall she saw the name and realized he had really followed after his dream, Piotr Rasputin, big gentle Pete. Wandering back downstairs she spotted Layla sitting with Logan in the kitchen.
"You ladies all just take a load off, get comfortable and watch some girlie movies or whatever it is you chicks do. I gotta play substitute Headmaster while Ro's away so I need ta get going." Logan just smirked catching the looks they threw at him.
Walking out to the porch together, they watched him throw a companionable hand on Kurt's back for them to just vanish with a Bamf. Left alone, Marie found Layla looking at her and she wondered just what was going through her friends mind. Hearing feet over the pine floors, both Layla and herself looked back to see Abby already taking the stairs two at a time.
"She did not just..." Marie asked.
Hearing the bathroom door slam shut and the water running, they looked to another and laughed. They'd have to be a lot quicker on the uptake with a mind reader in their company they both realized, having just been thinking how much they needed a nice long soak in the cast iron tub.
"Thank you Marie..." Layla whispered in the quiet moment they found another in.
Pulling her into her arms for a long, soul weary hug Marie just nodded her head and let the embrace speak for her. Standing there on the porch, she looked over her friend's shoulder and thought of the people who had welcomed her back so easily after having just left years before. Even after all the years away and the life she had built trying to find a life for herself, the school still felt like home.
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Sitting with a fire roaring after having finished the dinner Layla had prepared, Marie sat curled up in recliner wrapped up in a blanket feeling renewed after her turn with the bath. On the sofa across from her, mother and daughter whispered and chatted quietly. The sun had set and looking out the window she could see the first stars of the eve piecing the indigo sky. Dressed in borrowed things from Layla's overnight bag, Marie knew a trip was going to have to be made for their things, but that was a thought for tomorrow.
"I'm gonna go for a walk, work off that dinner your mama cooked up." Marie said to the pair, Abby looking at her knowingly.
"Oh hush girl, if I run into him I run into him. Darn know it all." Marie teased.
Wandering out into the new night, she walked along the rolling lawns of the estate letting her feet guide her. She could see kids young and old out in all the usual haunts, out by the pond some sat chatting, others sitting under the gazebo with intense longing passed between them. As she came closer to it she found fewer and fewer until they were nothing more than distant voices. The flame still burned, his memorial joined by two others she had known in her time at the school.
"Thank you." Marie whispered, brushing a hand along the granite to find it still warm from the day.
Charles Francis Xavier, Scott Summers, and Jean Grey. She had sat with their ghosts the night she had made her choice to leave, the loss of them then a painful reminder of just how empty the school had felt back then. With her eyes burning, she was glad others had stayed and kept the dream alive, kept it as a safe place for those who needed one.
"Rogue?" A quiet voice asked full of surprise.
Looking back with no attempt to hide her tears, she had to sniffle with the twist of emotions stirred seeing two familiar faces there. Pete and Theresa together with a few flowers each. Climbing to her feet she watched them walk towards her, surprised when she was wrapped up in a giant hug by Pete, Theresa joining in kind.
Without a dry eye between them they stepped back and looked to another, Pete looking even more imposing while Theresa had grown into a beautiful Irish lass with her crimson locks running down her back.
"Hi...uh, it's Marie...I realized how silly that name was." Marie whispered.
"When did you get back?" Theresa asked, Marie having to smile at how happy she sounded.
"A little while ago, a friend needed some help. I, did I see you teaching?" Marie asked to see Theresa blush.
"Not really, but I help them out playing teacher's aid. I was just helping keep Miss Braddock's class in order while she's away with Miss Munroe." Theresa explained.
The name meant nothing to her but just knowing more had come to keep the dream alive lifted her spirits, wiping away the last of her tears and smiling at the friends she hadn't seen in so long.
"You're painting now Pete?" Marie asked remembering the work she had seen earlier.
"Yeah..." Pete replied in a soft, yet self conscious voice.
"Don't let him be bashful, he's sold a bunch already." Theresa assured.
Looking to the flowers in their hands and knowing they had come to pay their respects Marie felt herself the proverbial third wheel. Giving both a hug she excused herself, lingering at the end of the path to watch them as they knelt before the memorials to have a moment with just as she had. Finding her way back to the front of the school Marie looked around but couldn't find Layla's car anywhere, thinking then she just might know where to find it and something else she secretly was looking for.
The garage door was open with the light inside flooding out, some rock playing over a radio resting on the workbench. Hearing someone working away inside Marie let herself in and looked around, spotting Layla's car in the back with some coverall clad legs sticking out under it. A bottle of Blue sat within reach to vanish under the car, replaced after a moment as a greasy hand fumbled to find a ratchet. Leaning against the workbench she waited wondering just when he'd be finished, hoping to surprise him and catch up when the side door opened.
Surprised herself to find Logan walking in with a cigar clenched in his jaw, Marie looked back to the legs poking out from under her friend's car in question. Reading her expression he just smirked and walked off to the fridge, coming back with a couple of brews and handing her one. Joining her at the bench, she couldn't help the heady breath she took catching the aroma of his cigar bringing her back.
"If you're here, who's that?" Marie asked as she took a sip of her beer.
"Our resident grease monkey." Logan answered.
After a time the hands reached out and grabbed the bumper, sliding out from under the car and sitting up. Looking their way, the woman regarded them before finding her beer and taking a sip. With a bandana on her head and grease on her face, Marie struggled to find why the woman looked familiar. Spotting a name tag on the coveralls, she felt her jaw drop reading Lee on it.
"Hey..." Jubilee said with a weak wave.
"Uh...Hi. Thanks again, really." Marie offered as she pushed herself off to walk up to her.
Another face from her time at Xavier's even if she hadn't known her that well, Marie spotted Logan walking off to a desk hidden in the back of the garage and settling down to some paperwork.
"Only place he can smoke and catch up on stuff like that." Jubilee said following her gaze.
"He's really?" Marie asked with her gaze lingering on him leaning back in a beat up leather chair to read over what looked like a test.
"Yeah, second banana Headmaster. I think Ro is down in Washington to talk to Hank, ya know, Big Blue UN Ambassador." Jubilee carried on.
Looking down, she couldn't believe what she was seeing, remembering the then fashion conscious girl with her own flair who walked in different circles. Seeing her in coveralls covered in grease now sipping a beer, Marie recalled Logan's words from earlier that it was a long story. Pushing the thought aside she looked at the car, something new and shiny in place of the dirty thing that had been leaking green, radioactive kool-aid.
"I was in town earlier, Logan told me to pick up a new rad and some stuff to do a tune up. Already did a load test on the battery and it's good, so like, ya shouldn't have any more break downs." Jubilee said after a sip.
"Thanks...what do I, I mean I can pay." Marie sputtered.
"Student discount, you can just get a case of Blue for the hoist time. It was the one beer Logan and me could agree on, he wanted Canadian of course but I wanted MGD." Jubilee explained with a stolen look to Logan.
"Sure thing Sugah, thanks." Marie replied feeling relieved.
"So like, whatcha been up to?" Jubilee inquired quietly.
"Cashier, grocery store, you?" Marie said giving the short version.
"Till a few months back was working at a garage in town, but then some chain moved in and well...I didn't want to go proving myself again to a bunch of walking erections." Jubilee stated with one last swig of her beer.
"How did you get into that?" Marie had to ask honestly never having imagined it.
Jubilee looked to her greasy hands, clenching her fists and staring out of the garage in thought. Marie felt she had tread where she shouldn't have but just as she was about apologise suddenly soft blue eyes looked up at her.
"Graduated and had to find a job, saw a help wanted sign, apprentice mechanic. They said if I could handle working the desk for three months they'd give me a shot at it, must have heard every pick up line and listen here darlin' ever thought up." Jubilee related.
"Wow..." Marie thought, thinking of her own hunt for a job paling in comparison.
"Wasn't that bad, anytime someone was a jerk their car would just sit clocking hoist time, ya know, waiting on a part. Grocery store huh? Underachievers unite." Jubilee said with a clink of her empty bottle to Marie's.
Stunned to silence, Marie could feel a touch of something beneath the surface in what Jubilee had just said, looking to Logan working away at his desk and wondering just what that long story was.
"It's good to see ya again, Roguey." Jubilee added as she climbed to her feet and walked off.
"Uh...Marie..." Marie called after her.
"Sure thing Roguey." Jubilee called back only to disappear past the side door.
Left alone with her friends car still sitting raised on the hoist, Marie wandered off to the back corner and found a chair to fall into, watching Logan in companionable silence. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, but then again three years had passed by. Smiling at the absurd image of him in a sweater vest and reading glasses, she banished the image with a shake of her head as his eyes looked up from the paper he was grading.
"So, cashier eh?" Logan asked between filling in a mark and filing it.
"Oh my god you were spying on us?" Marie asked.
"Nah, just overheard." Logan said with a wink, then picking up another test.
"Hah, the kids must drop bricks when ya do that." Marie laughed, having forgot just how good his hearing really was.
Logan's eyes just peered up from the test and she could tell he was grinning, taking a sip of her beer and joining him. Looking past him she saw pictures on the wall, one that left her feeling a stab of pain. Standing out on the front lawn, all the kids she had thought of as her class stood there in robes with diplomas in their hands. The sound of a drawer drawn open drew her away, seeing Logan pull out a ribbon bound roll of paper.
"Took a bit of doing, Ro had to really figure it all out, but it's been here waiting for ya." Logan said as he pushed it across.
Picking it up, the paper looked to have yellowed a bit but as she loosened the ribbon it unfurled in her hands. The school emblem was on it, a lot of Latin beneath with the familiar name below, Charles Francis Xavier School for Gifted Children. Running her finger along it, she found her own name there, never having even thought about it in all this time.
"Missin' those last few months, ya ain't no honour student or the likes, but ya passed. Proud of ya...kid." Logan said softly with his hand held out to her.
Reaching out to him and savouring the feel of his surprisingly rough but gentle hand, she had to fight to not cry again just wholly tired of it after so many twists and turns the last two days. With the reassuring squeeze he gave she found the strength not to, just enjoying the thing she had longed for so very long finally happening. With nothing between them, she could feel the warmth of his hand against hers and knew that in the end she had made that choice not for some boy, but for herself.
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