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Pick Your
Poison - Chapter Seven
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Title: Pick
Your Poison
Author:
Terri
E-mail:
xgrrl26@yahoo.com
Rating:
PG-13, for Logan's and Jubes'
potty-mouths.......
Disclaimer:
I don't own any of them. Darn.
Archive:
WRFA, Mutual Admiration, Dolphin Haven, Peep
Hut - all
others, please ask :)
Feedback:
Please? With some NyQuil on top? Sorry - I
have a cold
;) Good, bad, and ugly welcome, but I'll
warn you
- flames may be publicly mocked ;)
Summary:
Sequel to chapter six. Jubes and Kitty catch
up with
their old roommate under Logan's watchful eye.
Comments:
I think everyone I know has come down with a
horrible
cold this week. Personally, I blame Keli's
son - those
little kids sure are cute, but they're
nothing
but germ incubators, I tell you! What does
that have
to do with the story, you ask? Well, if
it's shorter
than usual and makes no sense, that's why!
;-)
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The knock
came just as everyone was finishing dinner.
Logan rose
from the table, and headed for the door.
Marie had
still said that she didn't want to see her
old friends.
Despite how annoying he'd always found
the girls,
he found himself wishing that Marie had
wanted to
talk to them. He didn't want her to feel
ashamed
about herself - the problems she had weren't
of her own
making, and he was proud of how well she
was doing.
However, he'd promised Marie that she
would be
the one to decide whether or not to meet with
the terrible
twosome, and decided she had.
Logan paused
before the closed door for a moment, then
abruptly
swung it open. "Didn't I tell ya not to come
out here?"
"You're
not the boss of me, dude. Where's Rogue? We
wanna see
her." Jubilee was, as ever, dressed in
bright yellow
from head to toe and chomping on a piece
of gum.
Kitty stood beside her, peering around
Logan's
shoulder and trying to get a look inside.
"She don't
wanna see you. Hit the road."
"I don't
buy it, Wolvie, she'd never not wanna see her
old roomies.
Come on, dude, we've really missed her."
Logan heard
movement behind him and smelled Marie
faintly.
He wondered if she was trying to take a peek
at her visitors.
"Besides,"
Kitty offered, "we, uh, we want to make
sure she's
OK. We've been worried. I'm sure you're
taking good
care of her and all, but, you know, we
kind of
want to reassure ourselves." Logan had to
hand it
to the girl. She'd shown considerably more
tact than
the x-men.
"She's doin'
OK. She's - she's herself again. But
she's still
a little shaken up, ya know? She don't
need people
she ain't used to and all this commotion.
Your buddies
were here 'bout a week ago, and they
shook her
up pretty good. She don't need anyone else
pushin'
her to see them. If you really care 'bout
her, you'll
give her some space. She knows where ya
are. I ain't
keepin' her from anybody. She'll get in
touch with
ya when she's ready. Understand?"
The girls
exchanged a look. "I understand," Jubilee
acknowledged
reluctantly, "but - but can't we just,
you know,
see her? I don't get it - why won't she see
us if she's
doing OK?"
Logan huffed.
As he tried to think of an explanation
that would
satisfy the girls without giving away any
of Marie's
privacy, he heard more rustling behind him.
He kept
his eyes on the girls, though. When Kitty's
face became
animated after a few seconds, he knew she
must've
caught sight of Marie. "Rogue! It's us!"
Kitty called
to her.
"You stay
right there. Don't try nothin'." Logan
turned away
from the girls to take a look behind him.
Marie was
standing in the hall, peeking around the
corner just
a bit. She looked nervous, scared, but
also curious.
"Hey, darlin'."
Marie gave
him a small smile and stepped out of the
shadow of
the corner. Jubes tilted her head around
Logan's
shoulder to get her own look at her former
roommate.
"Chica! Dude, I am sooo glad to see you!"
Marie smiled
a little at that and took a few steps
over toward
them, eventually coming up right beside
Logan. Nudging
herself into his side, she ventured a
shy smile
at the girls. "I totally knew you'd wanna
see us,
you know, once you saw us again. We missed
you, babe!
I swear, it's been so boring without you."
Marie smiled
a little again, and then looked up at
Logan.
"Whaddya
wanna do here, darlin'?" Marie pursed her
lips in
thought.
"She wants
to reunite with her old roomies, right?"
Jubilee
chimed in for her. Marie gave Logan a
sheepish
nod.
"OK. You
two stay right there. We'll be back in a
minute.
I'll take ya out for dessert, how 'bout that,
darlin'?"
Marie nodded gratefully. "We'll be right
back." Logan
shut the door and turned to head for the
coat closet,
but he was halted by a gentle tug at his
sleeve.
Marie looked up at him and made an apologetic
expression.
"It's OK. I don't mind." Marie hugged
him tightly,
and held him in her embrace for a few
long moments.
Logan's arms wound around her and he
kissed the
top of her head. "I'll be right there with
ya. It's
OK. Yeah, they ain't my favorite people,
but I kinda
thought you might wanna see 'em. I don't
mind." Marie
parted from him to lay a gentle kiss
over his
heart. It was Marie's usual gesture when she
wanted to
convey her thanks to him. He gave her a warm
smile in
return. "Come on, let's get goin'."
Logan took
them all to the town's one and only diner,
leaving
Hank with instructions to be on guard for
signs of
any other x-men at the house. Jubilee and
Kitty had
talked nonstop on the drive over, filling
Marie in
on mansion happenings since she'd left.
Logan was
grateful that they didn't delve too much
into what
had happened to her since then and that they
didn't bring
up the attack or Rogue's subsequent
problems.
Logan chuckled to himself a little that the
terrible
twosome had been so busy talking that they
hadn't yet
noticed that Marie hadn't spoken.
He wasn't
sure how much Marie would want to explain to
them about
that, and he resolved to follow her lead.
It would
come up eventually - even Jubilee had to stop
talking
sometime. Logan thought she might be winding
down now,
as they all sipped at their coffee while
awaiting
their desserts.
"And you're
not the only one who's getting their love
groove on,"
Jubilee continued, carrying on some
monologue
Logan hadn't quite been listening to. She
cast a salacious
look at Logan and he grumbled.
"Kitty is
so totally into Bobby now, you wouldn't
believe
it."
"Jubes!"
Kitty smacked her shoulder and blushed
deeply.
"What? You're
doing the deed with him, girl, it's OK
to admit
you like him." Marie laughed a little at
that. "But
enough about Kit's hot sex life and my
lack thereof.
What's been up with you, girl? You're,
like, a
Canadian now."
Marie nodded,
glancing quickly at Logan. "Yeah.
Yeah, she
is." Logan fidgeted in his seat a little.
"Do you
hafta, like, watch hockey 24/7? And eat maple
syrup at
every meal?" Jubes teased. Marie smiled and
shook her
head a little. "Then, like, what *are* the
requirements?
'Cause I've seen some total babes on
the trip
out and I could be persuaded to live with
some funky-ass
version of normal football if I could
get my hands
on some of that action." Marie giggled a
little at
that. "Come on, chica, spill. Tell us
something
about yourself, about what's going on.
We've missed
you, babe." Both girls looked
expectantly
at Marie, who, in turn, looked up at
Logan.
"Uh......"
Logan wasn't quite sure what or how much
Marie wanted
him to tell them, but he was sure she was
urging him
to say something.
"What?"
Jubilee piped up teasingly. "Don't you talk or
something?
Wolvie have to do all the talking for
you?" Logan
responded with an abrupt growl and
Marie's
expression immediately darkened. Her eyes
fell to
the table, then she leaned over to bury her
head in
Logan's shoulder. When Logan put his arm
around her
and drew her closer while giving the girls
a death-glare,
Jubilee finally clued in. "Oh, shit!
You - you
don't talk, do you? Fuck! Sorry - sorry,
Rogue. I
didn't know." Jubilee exchanged a worried,
almost panicked
look with Kitty.
"Yeah, sorry,"
Kitty offered, fidgeting a little.
"You - you
know Jubes - if her foot's not in her
mouth, we
send out a search party for it. We, um,
didn't mean
to upset you or anything. We, uh, we're
sorry to
hear that." Kitty looked unsteadily to
Jubes, who
seemed to be thinking something through.
Marie had
cringed and burrowed a little more closely
into Logan
at Kitty's words. Deciding something,
Jubes shook
off her embarrassed, upset mein, and
brightened.
"But hey,
I always did enough talking for both of us,
right? All
three of us, actually. And at least
you're not,
you know, nuts anymore. It's all good."
"Dammit,
Jubilee!" Logan growled. For a second,
Jubes thought
he might come across the table at her or
let the
claws out or both. But Rogue put a hand on
his chest
and gave him a small smile.
"Look, we
all know you were a little loco, chica.
It's not
a secret and nothing to be ashamed of. But -
but you
were always our Rogue, our roomie, and we
never stopped
loving you, you know? I'm just glad
that you're
- you're you again, and the talking thing
- well,
that's still not as weird as Kit's drooling
over the
ice cube or my love of Pyrex cookware."
Logan was
still glaring at her, but Rogue was smiling
a little
and making eye contact, so she continued.
"Do you,
like, write things down or do sign language
or something?"
Rogue nodded a little. "Whew. 'Cause
you know
I so totally was hoping that you'd help me
pick what
kind of dress to get for the New Year's
party. I
mean, it's gonna be yellow - duh! - but
strapless,
long, short - I need the Rogue's fashion
advice!"
Logan noticed Marie let out an involuntary
giggle at
that, and he relaxed a bit. "And I totally
was hoping
you could convince Kit to get some taste in
men."
"Jubes......"
Kit said in good-natured warning.
"What? I
mean, what if he, uh, freezes all up at a
crucial
moment. That could be painful not to mention
more than
a little surprising for you." Jubes
punctuated
her jibe with a wink at Rogue.
"Oh my God
- you - you don't think that could really
happen,
do you?" Kitty looked to Jubes, aghast. Rogue
eased in
Logan's arms, pulling away from him a little.
She exchanged
a look with Jubes - both girls had
enjoyed
the gullibility of their roommate in the past.
"You never
know." Jubes nudged Kitty with her knee
under the
table, and the girl returned her attention
to Rogue.
"So, uh, no talking. Anything else new
going on?"
"If you're
rootin' around for information to take back
to Westchester,
I'd drop it," Logan warned. He still
wasn't at
all pleased with Jubilee's comments, even if
Marie did
lighten a little at them.
"Look, I'll
play it straight with you. The Prof.
wants to
know what's the what with all the mutie kids
and how
our roomie got all better. He's a curious
dude. He
doesn't mean anything by it."
"He's a
fuckin' asshole who didn't take care of Rogue
when he
shoulda. It ain't his business, none of it.
We gave
all the stuff Hank has on the drug they used
on Rogue,
and that's it. That's all he's gettin'.
And you
tell him from me that the next x-man that
trespasses
on my property is gonna get an ass fulla
buckshot
and a trip to the town jail. Why dontcha go
back and
tell him that?" Logan felt Marie's hand fall
to his thigh.
He took a deep breath in and out to
calm himself.
"Sorry, darlin'."
"Dr. Grey
doesn't believe that the drug was bad. She
said the
info you e-mailed was inconclusive and that
Mr. Blue-and-Furry
might be a mutie, but she's not so
sure he's
a doctor." Marie shot a distressed look at
Logan while
Jubilee continued. "There's a study in
some medical
journal that says everything's okey-dokey
and she's
gonna go with that. Good thing you haven't
been around,
chica, she's been extra-bitchy lately.
Must be
menopause."
"Jubes,
she's not *that* old," Kitty countered.
"Well, something
crawled up her ass. You know, we
tried to
see you, like, a couple times a day, but she
wouldn't
let us. She said it made you all agitated,
and I guess
it kinda did. But - just so you know we
wanted to
come down and see you more than we did. And
we totally
don't hold it against you that time you
tried to
strangle me and punch Kit." Marie's eyes
darted back
and forth under downcast lids and her
folded her
hands in her lap. "Do you not want to talk
about before?
'Cause we can totally skip that if
you'd like."
Marie shrugged and nodded a little
apologetically.
"No prob, chica. There's lotsa other
stuff we
can talk about. I haven't even told you the
story about
Remy and Mr. Summers' new Miata. I tell
you - "
Jubilee paused when she noticed that Marie had
produced
a pencil and was scribbling something on her
napkin.
"Uh, writing something?" Marie nodded, then
finished,
holding up the napkin. One word - 'sorry' -
was written
in an unsteady hand.
"Oh, don't
worry about it," Kitty chimed in, looking
to Jubilee
for support. "We understand if you don't
want to
talk about it and - " Marie wordlessly
interrupted
with a vehement shake of her head 'no.'
She thought
for a moment, then pantomimed choking
someone.
Seeing that the girls understood, she showed
them the
napkin again. "Oh. Oh. Well, we - we
understand.
It was a little scary but we knew it
wasn't like
you really were trying to hurt us. You
were just......."
Kitty trailed off, looking for the
right word
and for once Jubilee was silent. After a
few seconds,
Rogue completed Kitty's thought with the
universal
gesture for crazy - circling her ear with
her index
finger. The girls all laughed, and Logan
even smiled
a little.
"Here's
your pie," the waitress chimed in, breaking
the moment.
The girls and Logan tucked into their
desserts,
and conversation stopped for a while as the
roommates
enjoyed just being together again.
Soooo........time
to pick your poison - what
happens
next?
1) Jubilee
and Kitty meet Hank
2) We find
out a little more from Jean about why she's
extra-bitchy
lately
3) Mary
has another power-control problem and Logan
and Marie
are called back to the house
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