Terri's Peep Hut ~~ Fiction Archive

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Summary: Rogue has an accident, and then Logan does.

Comments: I don't know where this one came from, really. I was reading through the various and sundry plot bunnies that some of you have been kind enough to send me, letting them percolate through my brain and breed, mingle, and multiply, and this popped out. And I just want to say - I feel bad for Jubes here, but I think Logan wouldn't ;)

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"What the hell were you thinkin', huh?" I am just seein' fuckin' red. I gotta kill somethin'. I gotta. And if this little kid don't say somethin' pretty soon, she's gonna be first in line. "Answer me, goddammit!"

"I-I-I don't know-I-"

"You don't know what you were thinkin'? You got a brain, dontcha?" This one-she's got the least goddamn sense of any of 'em. Whaddya expect outta somebody named Jubilee?

"Y-yeah, but I-I-I guess I wasn't-"

"What? What? Did you just get up this mornin' and say to yourself 'I'm gonna try to kill Rogue.' Is that it?" The only thing keepin' this one from decapitation right now is that Jeannie said Marie was gonna be OK. When they first brought her in-blood everywhere-I totally fuckin' lost it. Only 'cause Marie kept tryin' to calm me down, only 'cause Jeannie said it'd be better for Marie if I stayed out while she was stitchin' her up, only 'cause of that am I out here with this stupid ass kid insteada in with Marie now. I got the word, though. Scooter came out for a second and told me. Concussion, fractured ribs, cuts on her face and neck, a big one across her forehead. But she's gonna be OK. Good God, if she wasn't..I-I don't know what I'd do. This kid here, she don't even realize it. She don't even realize what she coulda taken away from me. "Answer me!"

"No! No, dude! I never meant for her to get hurt, honest! I just-I just looked away from the road for a second, just a second, and-"

"And what? And while you were contemplatin' your chipped nail polish or changin' the CD or reachin' for your stupid lipstick, you didn't notice a big-ass tree jump out at you?"

"I'm-I'm so sorry. It was just an accident. I'm so sorry." Good, cry. You should be fuckin' cryin' 'cause you coulda killed her, dipshit. You coulda taken her away from me in an instant and I wanna make damn sure that you're hurtin' as much as possible. Shit, if Marie wouldn't kill me, I'd take your ass out back and kick it but good. "I'm really, really sorry. I feel just awful, I do."

"Not as awful as Rogue does. You didn't get no concussion. You didn't get no broken bones. You ran her side of the car into the fuckin' tree. You walked away with a coupla scratches, that's it. You feel pretty fuckin' fine, if you ask me."

"I'm sorry, I am, Rogue's my friend and I'd never want to hurt her, honest. It was just an accident. She's my friend and-"

"Listen, kid-" That just makes my blood fuckin' boil. She's not somebody's 'friend'-like that's it, that's all she is. "I really don't give a good shit if you wanna take every one of your goddamn little friends and throw 'em off a bridge, but the one you had in the front seat with you belongs to me, you understand? She's *mine*. And I don't give a shit how you act with anybody else, but when you've got somethin' that belongs to me, you take good fuckin' care of it. Understand me?"

"Logan-" Fuckin' Scooter. That's just about all I need right now. "That's enough. I'll talk with Jubilee more later." Talk? Shit, that's all you ever do, one-eye. What you should do is run her into a fuckin' tree, see how she likes it.

"I'm so sorry." Cryin' a lot now. Well, good.

"Go on, go to your room, Jubilee." I am gonna be ridin' that girl's ass for the rest of her natural fuckin' life. "Logan, Rogue's ready to see you now. Please, try not to break any more of the lab equipment, all right? She *is* going to be fine."

"Hey, how are you holding up?" She shouldn't be worried about me. I gotta-I can still smell her blood everywhere, so it ain't gonna be easy, but I gotta keep it together. No more breakin' shit, just-just gonna be calm and see how she is.

"I'm fine, kid. How're you feelin'?"

"Better. All stitched up, and Jean took care of the cuts and everything." God, I gotta-I gotta touch her, feel her to make sure she's OK. Her arm. Her one arm didn't get hurt. I can go over and just touch her on the arm. Maybe I'll just rub it up and down a little, you know, in case it's sore or somethin'. "Hey, I'm OK, Logan, really."

"Why were ya drivin' with her, Marie?" I'm not gonna yell. I'm not gonna yell.

"We were just going to the mall. It was just an accident."

"No it wasn't. She wasn't payin' attention." Easy, easy, don't lose it. She's OK, she's gonna be OK. Even if those stitches in her head look-

"It wasn't her fault. She just-she just looked down for a second. She was putting her makeup on and she dropped her mascara and-"

"Jesus Christ, Marie! Use some fuckin' common sense, wouldya? Drivin' with somebody who's puttin' on makeup and shit. What the fuck were you thinkin'?" Fuck, I yelled. Well, I gotta-

"Logan" How does her voice get so soft like that, especially when she should be pissed at me? "I know in retrospect it doesn't seem like the smartest thing ever, but it was just an accident. I'm fine. I was wearing my seat belt. The airbag deployed. And hey-I didn't even get attacked by any evil mutants this car accident." Smilin' so nice, tryin' to calm me down. Shit. I gotta get it together. "I'm really OK, Logan."

"I'm sorry, kid. I'm sorry for yellin' like that. But seein' you hurt just makes me so nuts."

"I know, I know." She coulda been taken from me. Just like that. I woulda-I wasn't with her and I never woulda known until it was too late. Scares the fuckin' shit outta me, I don't mind tellin' ya. Just gotta keep tellin' myself that that didn't happen, that she's OK, that I still got her. Gotta take care of her now. "But I'm fine, really."

"You in any pain?" I know she is, I can smell it, but I can't really tell how bad it is.

"Some. My head hurts a lot, and the broken ribs are no fun."

"No, Logan, I'll heal on my own."

"No." Big sad eyes, sad little smile. I'll take odds that she's sayin' no 'cause she don't wanna hurt me. She never takes advantage of what I can do for her, not just the healing, but a lotta other things. She's never asked me to fight her battles, never asked me to handle somethin' for her, never asked me for money. She never asks for a goddamn thing from me. And the fuckin' ironic thing is, she's the one person I'd probably do anything for. "No, sugar. I know you would, I know. But I don't want to hurt you. I don't want you to always associate pain with touching me. I don't want that." I knew it. Worried about me. Don't know why, but she don't like me gettin' hurt, don't like me fightin'. I don't wanna lose that-I've-I've never had that.

"OK, but, c'mere." Gotta hold her now. Can't wait any more-hasta be now. I coulda lost her so easy, so fastI'm not gonna let that happen again. I'm not gonna ever take that chance again. And I'm not gonna let her think what she's thinkin' now. While I got her, I'm gonna take care of her. "I like touchin' ya, all right? Nothin' bad there at all. I'm not-I'm not hurtin' you, am I? I'm not squeezin' too hard?" Shakin' her head no. "Listen to me a second, OK? I know I-I know I flipped a little when they first brought you in and I'm sorry I wasn't really-I just got too pissed off and scared to help you out. But now, I'm OK, I got it together, and I just wanna-you just tell me how I can help you out, all right?"

"OK." Pullin' back to look at me, showin' me those beautiful eyes. She took a lotta damage-cuts and bruises all over her and those're just the ones I can see. She's gotta be hurtin'. And those stitches across her forehead-that's gonna leave a little scar, for sure. "Why don't you-let's go upstairs and maybe you can help me get cleaned up and change? Would that be OK?"

"Yeah. I can carry you." That's what I'll do, I'll take her upstairs to our room and I'll put her in the tub and clean her all up. I gotta-once this calms down, we gotta talk. 'Cause she can't-I don't want her gettin' hurt again. I don't think I'm gonna be able to let her outta my sight, not for a long time. I think she knows-I think she knows I get like that sometimes. Like when I first got back, I just couldn't leave her alone. Even watched her sleep and everything. Went on that way for weeks. Creeped the hell outta her little roommates, that's why she moved in with me. It's better that way, the two of us.

"Logan, I can walk. I'm really OK."

"No, no walking. I'm gonna carry you. You just-you just relax." All this stuff, us livin' together, it's not what people think. I mean, I know what my reputation is and shit. I know what they all think. But I haven't touched her, not really. I wanna, though. I wondered, when she first moved in, what was gonna happen, what she wanted. I didn't think I'd wanna just throw her in bed, have sex, just, boom, like that. I was only thinkin' I wanted her closer to me and, you know, we'd go slow and see what happened. But then, on the very first day, it hit me. She was just playing with her hair, sittin' on the bed, watchin' TV, and I wanted her.

I don't think she's ready for all that, though. To her, it's just me, just Logan, and us livin' together like this seems perfectly normal. She probably has no idea what kinda thoughts run through my head about her. "Logan? Put me down a second-there's Jubes."

"Please?" The Marie-'please' works every time, and she probably knows it too. "Hey, Jubes."

"Hey, Rogue. Are you-how are you?" That kid looks like she just about wants to jump out of her skin.

"I'm going to be fine. Are you OK?"

"Oh yeah, yeah, just-you know, a little jumpy." If she glances at me one more time, she's gonna get a growl.

"Look, Jubes, it was an accident. I'm not-I'm not mad or anything." She looks so relieved to hear Marie say that. "Really."

"Whew. Girl, thank you. I am really, really sorry." I know. Now they're huggin'. Well, I don't give a shit if Marie forgives her, I'm still pissed off.

"It's OK, it was an accident. Look-I'll see you tomorrow, OK? I'm going to head upstairs now." That's right, with me, so I can keep an eye on you and make sure you don't get run into any more trees.

"OK, OK. Later, chica." Another hug. Christ.

"Are we done now? Can I take you upstairs?"

"Logan, it's really not Jubes' fault. She feels awful, I can tell."

"She ran you into a fuckin' tree, Marie. I don't give a shit how bad she feels about it. She coulda killed you, and I'm not gonna be huggin' her and forgivin' her, not in her lifetime." And there's the Marie-frown, which doesn't work as well as the 'please' but is still probably gonna get me to just shut up about it.

"You know, you're a pretty brave guy." I'm glad she's feelin' well enough to joke a little. But I'm gettin' the good end of this deal, that's for sure. Marie, naked and in the tub, me washin' her all over, usin' gloves. Thin gloves that I can really feel a lot through. You know, I thought she'd be a little shy, or modest, but she's OK with it. Just goes to show, she has no clue what I've been thinkin' about doin' with her lately. Goes to show I'm still just Logan, her friend.

"Nothin' to it, kid." I think I've gotten most of the parts she couldn't reach because of the pain from her ribs. She got the, uh, lower parts. "Almost done?"

"Yeah. Can you just-would you mind rinsing the conditioner out of my hair?"

"Sure." Forgot about that. You know, that's probably the one complaint I do have about livin' with her-all the damn bottles of goop in the shower. She's got two different shampoos, two conditioners, three shower gels, something in a jar for her face, special soap, and even a toothbrush and toothpaste. Before Marie, there was one bar of soap. That's it. Now I can't even find my soap half the time. But smellin' like sun-ripened raspberry once in a while - it's a price I'm willin' to pay. "Good?"

"Mmm-hmm." She looks so cute just now, with all that wet hair plastered down over her, eyes closed and clearin' away the water from her face. I just gotta-I think about how close I came to losin' her and I just gotta touch her a little. Just her face, just a little. There, that's nice. "Logan?"

"Your hands." What? I'm just touchin' her face and my other hand is-shit! My other hand is on her breast. Shit.

"Sorry, sorry. That-that was an accident. Sorry." Shit, shit, shit. Fucked up. Here she is, finally askin' me to help her out with somethin' a little and I go feelin' her up while I do it.

"It's OK. It's fine."

"Sorry. Sorry, Marie."

"Hey." There's that soft voice again. "It's all right. I, uh, it was nice. I just-you've never done anything like that before."

"Yeah. It was an accident. I-"

"Was it? Was it really?" Oh-oh. She's leanin' forward and her eyes are all serious and, oh God, maybe she does know what I've been thinkin' and maybe she wants to too.

"Yeah. It really was. But I'd kinda like to do it on purpose. Sometime. Whenever. If that's OK with you." I hope that was right, 'cause I don't wanna -

"I'd like that too." Whew. And there's even a Big Marie-smile, which works on me better than anything. I even smile back, which is pansy-ass, I know, but I can't help it. I'm so glad she's not pissed. I'm so glad she's thinkin' that way too.

"Come on, let's get you outta the tub. Let's put you in bed." I'm not gonna do anythin' now, not really. She's hurtin', I can tell. But I'm gonna keep her right next to me until she feels better. Until she feels better and maybe then some.