Running to Stand Still

She woke up a bit groggily and tried to roll onto her side; she found the motion nearly impossible, seeing as her right leg didn't want to move at all. A dull pain throbbed in her knee and brought her back to reality with a twist of her heart.

"Hey gorgeous, it's good to see you awake."

Kat opened her eyes to find Scott standing by the bed, a smile on his lips. "Hey Scott, what're you doing here?"

He glanced at the empty room around them. "Giving Hank a break. You've been asleep while your body has tried to heal your knee." He gestured to the brace on her leg, running from mid-thigh to mid-calf.

"Yikes," Kat said softly, fingers gingerly touching the scars on the pale skin of her knee. With her healing factor, they weren't as pronounced as they would be on a normal human, but they were still there. "I must have damaged it pretty bad."

Scott nodded. "Yeah, Hank showed me the broken kneecap." He bent slightly and tapped his own right leg. "Had the same thing happen to me in high school, during a football game. This big linebacker aimed for my knees and crushed my kneecap."

He pulled a chair up to the bed and sat down. "Why'd you take the safety off of the program, Kat?"

She blushed slightly. "I was angry, I needed to vent some anger, and I guess I wasn't thinking clearly. I just wanted to beat the shit out of something."

"Why do I get the feeling that the hulking animal-guy out in the hallway had something to do with that?"

Kat's eyes widened. "Logan's out there? Has he tried to come in?"

Scott put a calming hand on her arm. "He tried, after Hank was done stitching you up, but I stopped him." he she snorted. "Logan let you talk him down?"

"It was more my threat to blast his ass down the hallway than anything else I said,
but …" He grinned, reaching out to brush her hair from her face.

The medbay doors swooshed open and Hank entered. "Ah, I see Sleeping Beauty has awakened. How are you feeling, Kat?"

"Very sore, but otherwise ok. What exy diy did you do to my knee?"

Hank bustled around the room, straightening a few instruments and whatnot before walking over to her with a piece of plastic in his hand. "I replaced the broken bone with a synthetic much like this," he replied, handing her the plastic kneecap. "Your body isn't showing any signs of rejection. If you're up to leaving, I won't hold you back, but you'll be on crutches for about a week."

Kat nodded. "What time is it?"

"6 a.m., Saturday morning," Scott answered. "If you want, I'll hang out with you today so you can get used to these torture implements," he added, gesturing to the metal crutches Hank handed to Kat. "They're a real bitch at first, until you get the hang of them."

"Sure. Um, should I take the brace off when I sleep?" she asked Hank.

"Yes, when you sleep and when you bathe. I would suggest baths until you're relatively stable on your feet."

"OK. Ready to go, Scott?"

"Ready when you are," he replied.

She smiled wanly and swung her legs off the bed, settling the crutches under her arms before putting any weight on them. She was a bit shaky at first, but with Scott's help she was able to make it across the room to the door. She turned to the doctor. "Thanks, Hank. I'll be back if I need anything."

Hank smiled. "You do that, my dear. Be careful."

Kat nodded and hobbled out with Scott at her side. Logan was leaning against the wall outside the elevator, arms crossed over his chest and a half-smoked cigar clenched between his teeth.

"Logan," Scott greeted with no small amount of warning in his tone. "Good morning."

The other man grunted. "Mornin'. How'd the surgery go?" he asked around his cigar.

Kat gla at at Scott with a look that said Did you tell him?

Scott shook his head, eyeing Logan warily.

Logan rolled his eyes and gestured to Kat's knee. "I'm not blind, I can see the stitches."

"It went fine," Kat told him. Scott could feel the tension humming through her body just from his arm around her shoulders. "I shattered my kneecap and Hank replaced it. That's all." She looked at Scott. "Let's go."

The trip upstairs was silent with the three of them in the elevator. When it stopped, Kat turned to Scott. "I want to go to my room to get a bath, then I think I'll come downstairs and watch cartoons with everybody."

Scott pointedly ignored Logan as he replied, "Sounds like a plan to me. Can you get there and back by yourself?"

"Yeah, I should be ok."

"I'll make you some cinnamon rolls for breakfast."

Kat grinned. "Sounds like a plan to me. See you in a few." They parted ways, Logan left staring after them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

She could smell the cinnamon rolls as she made her way painstakingly down the stepster ter a relaxing bath, she'd changed into jogging pants and a long-sleeved T-shirt, her fuzzy blue slippers keeping her feet warm.

When she stumbled at the end of the staircase to the first floor, a strong hand caught her elbow and righted her. She looked up into hazel eyes and immediately looked back down. "Thanks," she said softly, weakly tugging her arm from his grip.

"Kat, I'm sorry for last night," he said, not making any move to touch her. "I said some things that I shouldn't have."

She shook her head. "No, you told me the truth, which is all I could ever ask of you. You don't owe me anything, so just leave me be." She felt tears stinging her eyes and turned away awkwardly.

He watched her walk away before heading to his room; he grabbed his leather jacket and went back downstairs, stopping by the den before going outside. He found Kat stretched out in the couch, a blanket covering her legs and a plate of cinnamon rolls on her lap.

Scott sat on the floor in front of her, and various students were scattered around the room. St. John had taken the other end of the couch, Bobby was next to Scott while Rogue was sprawled on the floor. Jubilee was taking up as much room on the loveseat as possible and trying pathetically to discourage Remy from sitting with her.

It was a scene of such domesticity that Logan felt his heart clench. He saw Kat looking more at home and happier than he'd ever seen her; he had no right to impose his feelings on her, especially after what she had shared with him last night.

The group in the den paid no attention to the man outside the room. They were too intent on the Mighty Max cartoon on the TV. Only Kat heard the front door slam, followed by the gunned engine of a motorcycle that tore out of the driveway and out of her life.

She felt a hand on her leg and smiled down at Scott. "I'm okay," she answered in reply to his unspoken question. Maybe she couldn't see his eyes, but she could read the expression on his face. "I've been through worse."

Scott nodded. "Just making sure." He turned back to the TV in time to see Bobby launching a pillow at Jubilee's head. It winged the Asian girl's head but ultimately flew wide of its mark. "C'mon, if you're gonna throw pillows, at least throw like a man," Scott chided.

He took another pillow and threw it at Remy, who was busy trying to whisper French nothings to Jubilee. It hit the Cajun squarely in the ear.

"What is dis?" Remy asked, rubbing at his head. "A pillow fight?" He grabbed the pillow he'd been hit with and threw it at Bobby, who ducked.

"Hey! It wasn't me!" he cried, pointing at Scott. "Blame him!"

Kat grinned, protectively cradling her plate of rolls from stray pillows. One zinged past her head before stopping in midair.

Seven heads turned to the doorway to find Jean standing there, a disapproving look on her face. "What have you all been told about pillow fights in the den?" She fixed her glare on Scott, who remained stoic as ever.

"Lighten up, Jean, we were just having some fun."

"You should know better, Scott. You're an adult." She turned on her heel and walked away, leaving Scott frowning after her. The floating pillow dropped into his lap.

Kat touched his shoulder. "I'm guessing things aren't going too well between the two of you," she inquired softly.

Scott shook his head. "No, they're not. We had a fight last night."

"Over what?"

"Do you remember the guy that showed up here a few days ago? Tall, blonde, wings?" When Kat nodded, he continued. "He's an old friend of mine, or at least he was. Warren and I grew up here together, and there was always this joking rivalry between us over Jean."

His shoulders hunched a bit, his arms hugging the pillow to his chest.. "Jean's been spending a lot of time with him lately, and I called her on it last night. I don't blame Warren for any of this, but I have to blame someone and I know that I haven't done anything wrong or out of line. It seems they've been going out on dates, and I finally told Jean that either she stopped playing games with me or I'd cut it off."

"And you cut it off." Kat gently squeezed his shoulder. "She doesn't deserve you, Scott. You need someone who doesn't mind that you've got a big inner child." She grinned at him and glanced over at Rogue, who was sneaking little peeks at Scott. "I think that maybe someone else could appreciate you a little more."

He raised an eyebrow at Kat. "You're kidding me. It's just a crush," he protested, keeping his voice low. "She's pining over Logan, who can't see the forest for the trees."

Kat giggled. "That's saying a lot about a man who spends a lot of time out in the woods."

Scott poked her in the side. "You know what I mean," he said, tickling her. "Anyone with half an eye can see how she looks at Logan."

She laughed and slapped his hands away. "How she used to look at him, Scott. A blind man could see she's been mooning over you since Jean starting getting cold. Maybe it's time you opened your eyes and looked for once." She emphasized her speech by tapping his nose with an icing-laden finger.

"You're incorrigible," he replied, shaking his head and wiping his nose clean.