Pick Your Poison - Chapter Seven


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

And the winner is #1.......NEXT

 

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