In the morning Logan watched Marie sleep. He had woken a couple times during the night to wonder if it had been a dream, their nakedness and his sense of smell assured him otherwise. He lightly blew in her ear to wake her. "Logan cut it out." She said without opening her eyes. He slid a hand around to cup her breast and she groaned slightly as he rubbed her nipple which hardened under his touch.
He nibbled on her earlobe, "It's time to get up. We both need showers."
She turned to face him, "Or we could shower together."
"I like the way you think." Logan flung the covers off of them and scooped her up, carrying her to the bathroom. Almost an hour later they turned off the water and got ready for the day. For the next couple weeks Rogue would blush every time someone ran the faucet to get a glass of water.
Since Logan usually showered in his own room he also didn't have any clothes in hers. He located his pyjama bottoms and his shirt and put them both back on to go back to his room. He kissed her goodbye at the door, not sure if he was glad or disappointed there was no one in the hallway to see it.
At breakfast Logan sat next to her which was not unusual. He kept looking towards her but she acted as if it was any other day. Logan didn't have time to talk to her about it since Storm announced they had a mission. The senior members got ready and met on the jet. It was a recovery mission, some mutants had been captured and imprisoned by the re-formed Brotherhood.
The jet stopped to pick up some old members of the team as well so soon the jet was packed. Storm flew with Dr. McCoy in the co-pilot's seat. Logan and Colossus sat behind them. Rogue, Iceman, Shadow-Cat, Jubilee, Nightcrawler and Angel sat further back. The only talk was of strategy.
Soon they landed in the desert and set off on a short walk to the lair Storm had gotten information on. Logan and Beast led the way, Colossus and Angel following, the rest between them and Storm who brought up the rear. The first sentries they encountered were knocked unconscious without raising the alarm. Then dumb luck intervened, back luck.
Sabretooth was walking between the barn and the main house, and almost walked right into Colossus. Piotr took no time to act surprised, he simply struck the man with all five-hundred pounds of him behind the blow. Sabretooth grunted heavily as he hit the ground but was back on his feet in an instant, screaming out the alarm. Mutants poured from the buildings and in moments the team was involved in a full-out brawl.
Everyone was holding their own and Rogue found herself without an opponent. She ran towards the barn, grabbing Iceman as she went. Bobby was looking for John but Rogue doubted he was there, if he had been he'd already have joined the fight. She was also sure Magneto as well as the other more powerful mutants weren't there as Storm's information suggested.
As she and Bobby were about to go in she paused, "Wait." She took his hand for a moment, drawing as carefully as she could. She tested her new powers by icing the lock on the door. Bobby just stared at her.
"I hardly felt a thing."
"I've been practicing." Was all the explanation she offered as she kicked the door open. Further conversation was cut off as they were fighting two guards. Bobby was throwing sharp icicles at his opponent, hoping to slow him down rather than kill him. Rogue was trying to freeze hers but either he was immune or he had a high tolerance for pain. She gave up on the powers that were fading and turned to her hand-to-hand training.
She threw kick after kick and punch after punch, connecting more often than not. Her job was harder than it would have otherwise been since her opponent kept changing his body size from fat to thin and back again. She started concentrating on his legs and when he was used to that she delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to his head, dropping him to the floor. She didn't check to see if he was alive.
Bobby grabbed her arm and showed her the keys he had gotten off his now unconscious, and frozen, opponent. They ran to the back of the barn where they could hear a few voices calling to them. They found a large metal cage, clearly Magneto's work with five people inside and one in his own cage.
The five mutants inside the cage wore shackles on their hands and feet and showed clear signs of torture. Bobby winced and Rogue set her lips in a hard line and set to work opening the door and their shackles, Bobby keeping a watch. She noticed that the group were young teenagers and she had to suppress a growl. After the children were let free she turned to the man in his single cage.
He was shackled to a chair, his hands to his feet, gagged and blindfolded. "It's ok, we're here to rescue you." She told him and removed the gag.
"Is that a Southern belle I hear?" His voice was rich and heavily accented.
"Southern yes, belle, no. Now hold still." She took his blindfold off first and set to work on his hands and feet, listening intently for sounds of the fighting approaching. "Are you ok to walk?"
"For you cherie, anything." Rogue nodded and turned to lead the group out of the barn. Suddenly Bobby shouted a warning and a moment later was retreating towards them. He faced two immense mutants, twin brothers obviously, who were whirling nunchuk-like weapons. Rogue was going to his side when the man she had just freed stepped in front of her, then there was fire.
Rogue grabbed her head as the fire filled the room, hurting her ears as well as her eyes. She was able to recover quickly to see the two men on the floor, stunned, and she turned to the Cajun man. "Telekinesis then."
"Remy LaBeau at your service." He replied and bowed, then took her hand in his and brought it to his mouth as he straightened. He kissed her hand as her eyebrows raised. He was quite tall and wiry with wild reddish brown hair that hung in his eyes and very sexy. She took her hand back.
"We need to get out of here." She was talking to all of them but Remy answered.
"Ma belle, whatever you ask, Remy shall give." Despite his obvious mistreatment, despite their surrounding, despite the danger he was still smiling suggestively at her.
"Jubilee is gonna love you." Rogue told him then turned to lead the way out, not waiting to see his expression. As they reached the door Logan burst in, his claws extended and a furious look on his face.
"Are you ok?" He asked Rogue.
"Yeah, we're fine."
"Have you got everyone? We gotta get out of here."
"We do." Bobby said and Remy nodded. Logan gave him the once over then glanced at the children and retracted his claws. Rogue noticed how all of them jumped a little when he did so.
Logan now led the way out of the barn and met up with the rest of the team. No one seemed worse for the wear and they headed to the jet. Storm, Kitty, Jubilee and Angel kept an eye on the children while Piotr, Logan and Nightcrawler kept an eye on the rear. The rest, including Remy, kept watch on the rest of the desert as they hurried back to the jet.
Once inside Storm went to the controls while the others made sure the rescued mutants were secured and had water and some granola bars. The kids dug in with ferocity but Remy simply held his and surveyed the group. Logan watched him as he watched them. Logan noticed he was growling when Remy's eyes lingered on Rogue but he didn't much care of anyone heard him.
Storm radioed ahead to the doctor to let him know what to expect and he met them at the jet. The rescued were escorted to the lab by the doctor, Logan, Rogue, Piotr and Dr. McCoy. Once the doctor was done checking them over they waited for Storm to arrive and debrief them. Remy sat on a table and twiddled a tongue depressor absently in his hands, his eyes never leaving the woman who had rescued him from the darkness.
Once Storm was done with them they went to the kitchen for a late night dinner before being shown to their rooms for the night. Logan came to Rogue's room after showering and paced restlessly before she came out of the bathroom. She was wrapped in a towel and Logan smirked at her, "Gonna flash me again darlin'?"
Rogue narrowed her eyes and turned her back to him, then let the towel slowly fall lower on her back, then stopped it just as it was about to reveal her buttocks. She peeked over her shoulder at him and laughed as he spun her around and grabbed the edges of her towel.
He pulled her in close and kissed her gently on the lips, then he laid kisses along her jaw, the curve of her ear and her neck. He dropped her towel and picked her up. Eventually they went to sleep.
"Logan?" Rogue poked him in the side. "Logan, wake up, it's time for breakfast."
"I'm not hungry." He said as he pulled her on top of him.
"Yes you are, I can hear your stomach. C'mon, let's go." She rolled off of him and got out of bed to get dressed. Reluctantly he followed. It was always a fight between hunger and sleep in the morning for him, but having a beautiful, naked woman to watch get dressed tipped the scales in his stomach's favor.
No one was in the hallway when they left her room but the dining room was packed. Rogue got her food and sat down at an empty chair. In a few moments the chairs on either side of her were taken by Logan and Remy. Rogue was talking to Piotr who was across from her when she felt breath in her ear.
"Remy wonders how his angel is doing this morning." Rogue blinked at him a moment then replied.
"I'm fine thanks but-" She broke off as he took her hand again and kissed it, then he squeezed it and wouldn't let go. "Remy-"
"Yes mon chéri?"
"Let go." Her voice was hard and dangerous but Remy either didn't notice or didn't care. The rest of the table had noticed though, conversation was dying as the group's eyes were locked on Rogue and the newcomer who was clearly unaware of Rogue's mutation.
"But Remy cannot, he must thank his angel." Rogue could easily have taken his powers form him or at the very least weakened him enough to get him to let go, but she didn't want yet another person in her head. Then she heard the growling. Uh-oh. Before the thought was complete she heard Logan's chair slide back and fall to the floor.
Remy was smart enough to look in Logan's direction and though Rogue saw him pale he still didn't let go of her hand. Rogue looked at Logan as he stepped nearer and she was impressed by Remy's courage, or stupidity. Logan didn't have his claws out but his face was dead calm. "She said let her go." His voice was as calm as his face and the rest of the table unconsciously leaned back from the Wolverine.
"But Remy-"
"I don't care, let her go or I'll gut you." Remy finally dropped her hand as he stood to face Logan. Rogue stood to try and diffuse the situation.
"And who are you?" Remy said pugnaciously, sure that the man wouldn't actually do him any harm in front of the children.
"Maybe you should go for a walk Remy." Rogue told him, her eyes on Logan.
"Mon chéri, why should Remy leave? Remy was told you were free."
"Free?" Rogue turned her face back to his. "By whom?"
"I told him." Rogue's eyes went wide and Logan's narrowed when Storm spoke. The room was now completely silent, everyone thought the last person to gossip was Professor Storm. Logan tried to stare her down but she met his eyes and when he finally blinked she knew she'd won.
"Well she's not." Logan said. "She's with me." There were audible gasps of disbelief. Rogue put her arm around Logan's waist and he put his arm around her shoulder. Then he slowly pushed his claws out towards Remy's face, giving him plenty of time to get out of the way, which he did. "Apologize."
"Remy is sorry." His voice shook a tiny bit and Logan retracted his claws with a metallic sning as the Cajun sat down in defeat. Rogue almost felt sorry for him.
"Rogue?" Someone asked, "You and Logan? Really?" Rogue looked up into Logan's face and smiled.
"Yes, me and Logan, really." Then he kissed her.
A/N: Well folks, I think that's it for this story…thank you so much for those who've reviewed and thank you to those who will.