Reaching Out
Chapter 3: Confrontation and Acceptance
by
Catlover
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Marvel owns the X-men lock, stock and barrel. I'm only using them for my sick purposes and them cleaning them off and placing them back on the shelf.
*Italics are thoughts.
In the main dining area, the Mansion's entire population, less two, sat eating dinner in small clusters. The teenagers sat at a large table by the windows. The smaller children were separated by sex and age into small groups of four or five. At a large round table, big enough to seat ten sat Professor Xavier, Storm, Jean and Scott. A fifth table setting laid on the table unused. All over the room, conversations could be heard ranging from the mundane subjects of whom likes whom to the important matters concerning the X-Men's next plan of attack. Into this cacophony of voices walked Logan and Rogue, tightly holding hands. At first, only a few voices stopped as people paused to stare at the pair's clenched hands. Next, more silence fell. Finally, the quiet was almost a pliable thing as people in the room wrenched their necks, trying to look at Logan and Rogue. Logan and Rogue stopped in their tracks. Logan surveyed the area, his narrow eyes coming to rest upon the other members of the X-Men. Looking at Rogue, Logan nodded his head in the direction of the X-Men's table. Rogue swallowed and nodded. Together, they crossed the room. Along the way, Logan let go of Rogue's hand long enough to pick up a table setting off another table. Once at the round table, Logan placed the table setting down to the left of the one waiting for him. Quickly, he reached over and grabbed a nearby chair and pulled it over to the table. He waited for Rogue to sit down before sitting in his own chair. A couple minutes later, the cook came out and served Logan and Rogue, darting glances at Xavier the whole time. After the cook left, Logan picked up his fork, leaned over his food, looked around at the four other people sitting at the table and said, "So, what's goin' on?"
Choking on a sip of wine, Storm started coughing. Scott and the Professor sat silently; their mouths threatening to hang open. Jean narrowed her eyes and looked back and forth between Rogue and Logan. Rogue returned the group's scrutiny timidly. She put down her unused fork and slowly started sliding her hands toward herself, hoping to hide them under the table. Logan noticed her actions. Before she could succeed in removing her hands from the table, He reached over and grabbed Rogue's right hand and squeezed. He glanced over at Rogue and winked. Logan's touch gave Rogue the strength to sit taller in her seat, her back straight and her head held high. Professor Xavier cleared his throat and everyone looked in his direction. The Professor leaned forward and said, "I see you've brought a guest to the table this evening, Logan." Logan squeezed Rogue's hand tighter and responded, "Yeah." The Professor picked up his fork and positioned it to spear a cherry tomato. "Rogue, I suppose you'll be joining us from now on." Rogue swallowed hard and answered, "I'd like to." Professor Xavier pierced the tomato with his fork, raised it to his lips and ate it. Xavier looked back and forth between Logan and Rogue. Logan looked at Xavier with set, blank eyes. Logan didn't blink. He didn't look away. Although Rogue's eyes betrayed her fear, she also refused to look away. Finally swallowing, Professor Xavier speared some more salad and said, "I think your input will be greatly appreciated." Some tension finally left Logan's body and he sat back. Rogue picked up her discarded fork and said, "Thank you, Professor." Professor Xavier nodded and began eating. One by one, Storm, Scott and Jean started eating. Around the room, whispers blazed up. Logan looked around the room briefly before working on his dinner. Following Logan's cue, Rogue slowly ate her dinner.
After dinner, the inhabitants of the Mansion cleared off their plates and thanked the cook for a job well done. Logan and Rogue walked away from the cook's disapproving gaze without saying a thing. They left with a swarm of people surrounding them. As people passed them, they glanced, peaked and sometimes blatantly stared at Wolverine and Rogue. Rogue held Logan's hand tighter and stood closer to him. Logan guided Rogue through the halls. They finally arrived at Logan's room. Entering the room, Logan looked down the hall to see Jean Grey staring back at him. Logan surprised Jean by nodding at her before entering the room. Closing the door behind him, Logan walked over to the bed and sat down next to Rogue. Logan placed his arm around Rogue's shoulders and pulled her close. In a small voice, Rogue whispered, "That was so much harder than I thought it would be." Logan stiffened at this news. Logan shifted until he was facing Rogue. "Marie, look at me," Logan waited for Rogue to look at him before continuing, "Are you regretting this in any way? If you are, say so now." Rogue looked into Logan's serious, brown eyes and said, "I don't regret a thing." Logan smiled and pulled Rogue into a tight embrace. She placed her right cheek on his right shoulder and sighed. Logan kept his head up to avoid contact with her scalp, but still managed to wrap his arms around her. This is how Jean Grey found them when she opened the door.
Jean Grey gasped in surprise. Recovering from her shock, she stomped into the room and ordered, "Rogue, I need you to leave. I have to speak with Logan alone." Rogue and Logan separated. Logan raised an eyebrow at Jean and said, "This is my room, not yours, Jean. I say who comes and goes around here." Jean stood straighter, her eyes blazing. Jean warned, "Logan, you know this talk is going to happen eventually. Do you really want her to be here to witness it?" Logan leaned toward Jean and answered, "Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of Rogue." Jean's eyes clouded over as she spoke, "Okay Logan, answer a question for me Why are you with this girl when you said you loved me?" Rogue looked over at Logan, but Logan did not look back. Instead, he reserved his cold, angry eyes for Jean while he fired back an answer, "I never said I loved you. I flirted with you a little bit, but I never said I loved you." Jean stepped forward and accused, "Logan, are you going to sit there and honestly say that when you came out of the last coma, you didn't tell me that your heart belonged to me?" Logan stood up and walked over to Jean. "What I said was that my heart belonged to somebody else. I never said it belonged to you," he clarified. Jean countered, "That is very convenient, Logan. I remember telling you back then that I thought Rogue was quite taken with you. In response, you told me to tell her that your heart belonged to somebody else." Logan looked over his shoulder at Rogue before replying; " I said that. It's true, but that still isn't a declaration of love for you." Jean questioned further, "Are you saying it was a lie?" Logan leaned ever closer to Jean and answered, "It was a lie." Jean took a step closer to Logan, until their faces were less than an inch apart and said, "I don't believe you. I think you're lonely, Logan, and you've latched onto this child to make the loneliness go away, not caring about what it might do to Rogue." Logan growled and spat out, "Get out. Get out of my room, Jean, before I do something." Slowly, Jean stepped back, turned on her heel and left the room.
Logan remained standing there. His hands were rolled into tightly clenched fists and hanged down by his sides. Rogue got off the bed and approached Logan. Lightly, she touched his arm. Instantly, Logan's claws extended in response to her touch. Rogue yelped and jumped back. Logan swiveled, looking over his shoulder at Rogue. Her frightened eyes shocked him back to reality. Immediately, Logan retracted his claws and turned toward Rogue, his hands up in the air. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you." Rogue nodded and walked up to him. Reaching up, she interlaced her fingers with his. "Now, I know what you meant when you said that people might think you're taking advantage of me," said Rogue, "God, I've never seen Miss Grey act like that." Logan lowered their hands, drawing Rogue closer to him. Gently, Logan ran his hands up Rogue's arms and nudged her closer until her head rested on his chest and her arms wrapped around his waist. Logan wanted to place a hand on top of her head, but wasn't wearing gloves so he couldn't. Wrapping his arms around her, Logan advised, " You better get used to it. We're going to get a lot more of that before too long." Rogue nodded and closed her eyes.
Later that night, Rogue reluctantly left Logan's room and returned to her own. Down the hall, Scott watched her leave. He waited a minute before walking over to Logan's door and loudly knocking on it. Logan opened his door a crack, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans. Seeing Scott, Logan rolled his eyes and opened the door. Scott cleared his throat and observed, "I just saw Rogue leave, not one minute ago." Logan looked down at his bare chest and bare feet and put two and two together. For a second Logan considered letting Scott believe something had happened, but that wouldn't be fair to Marie so Logan just smiled and shook his head before saying, "Nothing happened, Scott. Now, say whatever you're going to say and leave. I heard enough from your significant other earlier, but I'll take a little more if it'll make you sleep better." Scott looked at Logan curiously before asking, "Jean was here?" Logan narrowed his eyes and answered Scott's question with a question. "You didn't know?" Scott looked away and answered, "No." Logan observed, "Interesting. Maybe there are a few troubles in paradise, after all. (Logan relished in watching Scott squirm) So, let's get this over with. What do you have to say to me, Scott?" Scott raised his gaze to Logan's blank face and asked, "Are you going to do right by Rogue?" Logan laughed, mockingly. "Sure, Dad." Scott impatiently responded, "I like to think of myself as more of an honorary big brother." Logan stopped laughing, looked Scott up and down before stating, "You're one to be asking this question, Scott. I mean, how long have you been with Jean, now? Five years? Ten years? More years? You tell me. When are you going to make an honest woman of Jean?" Scott crossed his arms before responding, "We're not talking about Jean." Logan sat on his bed and looked up at Scott. Rubbing the back of his head, Logan asked, "Don't you think, Scott, that you should leave and clean up your own house before you come around here messing with mine?" Scott couldn't think of anything to say to that. He just turned around and left the room, closing the door behind him. Logan got up and pulled his handkerchief from his pocket. He was about to crumple it up and throw it into the dirty clothesbasket; instead he stopped, looked at it, folded it up and placed it on the nightstand next to his bed.
The next day, Logan entered the changing room and opened his locker. He pulled his T-shirt off and grabbed one of the training sweatshirts out of his locker. As he pulled it over his head, Storm walked into the room. Not saying a word, Storm walked over to her locker and started to change. Logan looked over at Storm and said, "So, you might as well take your shot, too. " Storm continued to change as she answered, "Everything I have to say, I already said months ago." Logan nodded, remembering that night four months ago. Leaning against his locker door, Logan stated, "You knew." Looking over her shoulder, Storm confirmed, "I suspected." After she finished changing, Storm walked over to Logan and sat down on a bench near him. Slowly, Logan walked over and sat beside her. Taking a deep breath, Storm continued, "You're a good man, Logan, but that doesn't make what I told you before is any less true. You love her and that's wonderful. I think she needed someone to love her, right now. My only worry is about how this will end, and it will end, Logan. At some point, you're both going to want to make love to each other and you won't be able to. When that moment comes, one or both of you will start pulling away." With that said, Storm stood up and walked toward the training room. Just before reaching the door, Storm heard Logan call out, "Not necessarily." Opening the training room door, Storm looked back and said, "I really hope so, for both your sakes." Logan sat on the bench for a minute before looking down at his bare hands. Gloves. I need gloves.
Walking into the vehicle lot, Logan glanced mischievously at Scott's bike. The vehicle still had some of the dents he put in it. As he straddled the motorcycle, Logan heard the door open. Looking over, Logan saw Professor Xavier enter. Xavier slid up to Logan and asked, "Going somewhere, Logan?" Logan answered, "Yeah. To town. I need to buy a few things." Xavier interlaced his fingers and commented, "Like gloves." Logan looked at Xavier and cocked his head to the side as a smile slid across his face. "How did you know?" Logan inquired. "Some things you don't have to be psychic for. Have a nice trip. Logan." Logan placed the key in the bike's starter, but stopped before turning it. He looked over at Xavier and asked, "Are you okay with this?" Professor Xavier looked intensely at Logan and replied, "Would it matter if I wasn't?" Logan looked at Xavier directly and answered, "No." Xavier smiled and said, "Then I'm okay with it. Logan, I've lived a long time. I've seen a lot of things. I've seen this kind of romance before. As with everything else, some of the relationships I've seen were strong and some were weak. There's nothing to say that Rogue and you can't be one of the strong ones." Logan smiled at Xavier and said, "You're all right, Chuck." Xavier nodded and watched as Logan started the bike and drove away.
Sitting at her desk, Rogue suddenly became the center of activity. Her fellow female classmates sat in surrounding chairs and prodded Rogue with questions. "How long have you been with Wolverine?" one asked. "What's it like to have one of the X-Men as a boyfriend?" inquired another. Rogue's head spun from all the attention. Rogue cleared her throat and answered, "Since yesterday. It's hard to say boyfriend and Wolverine in the same breath. The word doesn't seem to fit him." One of the girls leaned forward and whispered, "Have you kissed him yet, Rogue? Is he a good kisser?" Another girl leaned in and chimed in, "Yeah, Rogue, Wolverine seems so primal. He must be a great kisser, right?" Rogue blushed and the girls giggled. Rogue tucked her ivory hair behind her ear, avoiding their stares. One of the girls looked Rogue up and down before proclaiming, "Look at her blush! You just know she kissed him," Leaning forward, the girl urged, "Come on, Rogue, don't hold out on us." As Rogue opened her mouth, Professor Xavier arrived at the class and broke up the powwow. "Everyone please put the chairs back where they belong. Come on, now, quiet down. In the last class"
Just before dismissing the class, Professor Xavier gave out the next assignment. Smiling warmly, Xavier said good-bye to everyone. As the teenagers rushed from the room, they passed Wolverine standing just outside the door. As the girls passed him, they turned away quickly, giggling loudly. Wolverine smiled and the girls blushed and giggled again. Rogue found Wolverine laughing under his breath, leaning against the wall. Approaching him, Rogue asked, "Why are you smiling like a Cheshire cat?" Holding up his hands, displaying his new black gloves, Logan responded, "I went to town and bought a few things." Rogue laughed and questioned, "When did you go to get those?" Logan wrapped his arms around her and replied, "Just now. In fact, I just got back," pulling Rogue close, Logan continued, "I had to. I've been dying to do this!" Suddenly, Logan reached up and messed up Rogue's hair by rubbing his hand over the top of her head. Rogue shrieked and pulled away. Standing a couple feet away, Rogue smoothed out her hair and playfully swatted at Logan. Laughing loudly, Logan opened his arms and Rogue rushed into his embrace. He rubbed his thumb over her cheek and looked deeply into her eyes. Logan broke the connection when he heard a familiar hum. Looking down, Logan saw Professor Xavier exit the room. Xavier paused in front of Rogue and Wolverine and smiled. Rogue smiled back and Logan raised a hand and twisted it showing the front and back of his new black gloves. Xavier chuckled and nodded. The Professor cocked his head to the left and said, "Rogue. Logan. You will be joining us for dinner on time tonight, won't you?" Logan smiled and replied, "Sure, Professor." Nodding his head and waving a hand, Professor Xavier proceeded down the hall, calling back, "See you then."
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