Wicked Game

Disclaimer: I don't own the x-men

(added a chapter called "a lecture on women" ... nothing special, just Ororo giving Logan the third degree sorta speak... *s*)


Thanx for the sweet comments (sure I'd love to get this archived at roganforever, if it'll ever get finished...) *s* and the patience, since I haven't had it beta'd at all ... so all the mistakes you may find - blame the author *s*

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Logan forced himself not to look over his shoulder. He opened the door and leaned against it when he was outside, back in the hallway. He let out a breath he didn’t even know he had been holding, and suddenly felt so tired he thought he could’ve fallen asleep right at that moment. There were people in the hallway, coming and going, but no one seemed to notice or care about what he was doing, or so he thought when heard a voice nearby.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the big bad wolf,” he heard John saying, and he didn’t make any effort to tone down the scorn in his voice as he spoke, “now what are you doin’ here, lurkin’ around? Looking for prey perhaps?” He gave a laugh and spread his hands wide. “Too bad, we’re kinda out of it, just now as a matter of fact.”

Logan was still leaning his forehead against the door. He didn’t have to look at Pyro to know the little shit was more than pleased with the situation, he could practically feel the smirk on John’s face too. A bad day it was, indeed bad and it was getting worse.

“Your point?” he said.

“Hey, I’m not trying to make a point other than get the fuck away from this part of the building, you’re not wanted around here, sniffing and behaving like a dog”, he spat at him, not trying to keep it down.

Logan turned his head slowly, just enough to be able to glance sideways at the idiot who was trying to ruin whatever there was left of his day. In a way he was surprised to hear the words come out of his mouth, all calm and collected, not a trace of fury. Wolverine stayed just below the surface though, waiting. “So we’re playing that game now, are we boy,” Logan even smiled as he spoke, a crooked smile he made sure never reached the eyes, “I could ask you the same, because I find it kinda’ hard to believe our friend Iceman would want you hanging around this part of the mansion too.”

John frowned at him, while he was toying with that precious lighter of his. Logan knew he had him, just by looking at the little vermin’s clenched jaw, oh he owned him now.

“Well, I’m just making sure his … possessions … are safe from people like you”, he said, frowning even harder. “You know, you really should spend time with people your own age instead,” he continued, voice low and full of scorn, “Rogue … well, she is gorgeous and all, but not that hot. For fuck’s sake, man, you’re old enough to be her father and daddies don’t fuck their –“

Logan grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed him against the opposite side of the hallway, raising a fist to John’s face. Logan leaned in close enough to feel the breath from him against the skin.

“Don’t ever say something like that again, or you’ll find out what your intestines smell like, you little fucker”, he whispered, an eager snarl, shifting his glance from Pyro’s wide eyes, to the balled fist, and back again. “Or did I mean brains? Gee, I don’t remember, do you? Wait, I think I have a clue after all.” He let the claws tear the skin on his knuckles, they made a sort of spongy sound ripping through the flesh. A thrill ran through Logan’s body as he noticed John’s eyes grow even wider, with anger and fear, though he tried hard to conceal it, while staring at the blades pointing at him.

“Careful, Johnny boy, or ye’re eyes will burst.”

“Stop … are you fuckin’ out of your mind?! Get the hell off me you asshole!”

Logan backed away, grinning. “Remember what I said, don’t fuck with me, okay? And don’t ever talk about her like that again, or you’ll really be sorry.”

Pyro stared at him. “And don’t you ever threaten me again”, he snarled back, while toying with the lighter. “You cannot heal from everything, you sh –“

“What the hell … are you blind and deaf, Logan?”

Logan and John turned their heads simultaneously, and found Bobby standing there. The anger flared from him as he stared at Logan.

“I was gonna leave anyways so …”, Logan began, but Bobby blocked his way.

“Don’t you ever listen, or are you just so … my god, you egotistic bastard, I don’t want you here, you’re only gonna mess things up worse, but you just couldn’t stay away, could you? You know how M … how she’s doing, so why the hell are you trying to make it worse?”

Logan didn’t move, there was probably nothing he could say anyway, Bobby was very protective around Rogue.

“I won’t stand here and debate this, Bobby, so I’m just gonna head back to my place”, he said, voice low.

“Like hell you are. I want your word that you will stay away. You’re not gonna talk to her, you’re not even gonna look at her again. What the hell do you think Dr Grey would say about all this, huh? Does she even know about your so called commitment to,” he nodded towards Rogue’s room, “or are you hiding it from her?”

“The let me be off, and everyone will be okay, okay? And one thing, I won’t discuss Jean or Rogue with you.” He took a step closer to Bobby. From the corner of the eye he could see Pyro following the whole scene with something close to a devilish grin on his face. Well, he sure was gonna get his share of the Iceman’s wrath later on.

“No, you are not gonna discuss her, because there’s nothing to discuss for you, get it? Fuck … you know she’s in a really bad shape, she won’t talk other than a few words here and there, and when she’s having nightmares, you want to know whose name she keeps calling? No? Well, then get the fuck away from me and her, or I’ll fucking freeze you to death!”

Bobby stepped aside when he also seemed to remember that his archenemy at the school was standing there, obviously enjoying the show. John tried to go for the innocent guy look, and failed, or so Logan thought, as he watched Bobby giving him the cold stare without turning everything to actual ice.

“And what the fuck are you doing here John?”

“Yeah, well, I just happened to be in the neighborhood … sorta’ …” He shot Logan a glance that Bobby didn’t seem to notice or care about.

“Just get the fuck out of my face, you,” he nodded towards Logan and then John, “and you as well, before I’ll report this shit to the people in charge”, he scowled.

Logan shrugged. He felt like laughing at the whole scene. Bobby truly was a pathetic excuse for a guy, and to think that Rogue even dated that loser … But as he strolled down the hallway, on his way to the kitchen, there was an edge of bitterness to it, he could taste it at the back of his tongue, sort of vile and disturbing.

The kitchen area was empty, no signs of someone cooking or doing dishes, he noticed with some kind of relief. Luckily though, the fridge was packed with groceries and beer, among other things. He grabbed a bottle and headed towards the comfy couches in the lounge, the day had been everything but easy and it was beginning to transform itself into a massive headache. Sighing with relief, he slumped in one of the huge stuffed armchairs, propping his feet on the table. If someone were to yell at him about it, let them, he thought and took a mouthful of the beer and swallowed, enjoying the cold, bitter taste. “See if I give a damn about it”, he mumbled and closed his eyes. Oh, this was the right kind of medicine – a cold beer and some peace and quiet. There was only one thing missing, he thought and searched his pockets, delighted to find what was needed to make it all complete. The sweet, rich and sort of thick smell, no wait – scent, reached his nostrils as he put the cigar between his teeth.

Logan lit the cigar and inhaled deeply, smoking like it was a ciggie, forcing the heavy, stinging smoke down his throat and into the lungs. It felt good, it felt better than anything had during the whole day so far, he thought and watched the white streaks of smoke twist and turn in the air above his head. For a moment he was as content as he could be, Jean was off tending to whatever it was she was doing, and he had no idea when she would be back. To be frank, he didn’t care. They shared a room but somehow it had always made him feel like they weren’t actually sharing it, she had her space, and he had his own. He still had his old room though, and he wasn’t about to let someone else have that, useful as it could be for unexpected situations. Not that he complained about it, she certainly didn’t complain about his stuff lying everywhere else but where it was supposed to be. There was no need to, since he was kind of short on … stuff. On some level he also knew, or suspected that she was disturbed by it, him being reluctant to settle down like that, him being unwilling to open up about everything like she was. Well, accumulating stuff to get into the cosy this-is-our-home mood just wasn’t his preference. Or like most people seemed to be in to. The very thought was disturbing as he’d spent his whole life, or what he could recall of it, on the road. The more she tried to get him to behave like a settled down type of guy, the more he automatically distanced himself from her, and he was really beginning to hate the way she was trying to change him – the way he was and looked – it was getting on his nerves. Then there was her lack of understanding when it came to his relationship with Rogue, whenever he mentioned her name to Jean he could smell the dislike coming from her. She’d practically ruined their weekend up at the cabins because she couldn’t handle him talking about Rogue. Yeah, well, her fuckin’ bad, he thought and snorted.

“Well, as long as a man’s got his beer and smoke …”, he told himself, smiling. Being rootless had its ups and downs, the bad part of it was that he had no one to share it with, and the good part … But you do, don’t you? That’s the good and the bad part, all at the same time. The voice seeped through him, filling the mind with questions, and answers. Logan inhaled deeply again, gulping down the rest of the beer, staring at nothing but the flowing streaks above him. … you want it to be awful, you think that is the only way, the only way for you not to have what you truly want, what you long for, what the beast wants, craves, demands, out of you. You can feel the need somewhere down that well that you used to think was bottomless. And now … now you know, don’t you … Logan shivered and threw the empty bottle at the wall, watching it smash into thousands of small fragments as it hit the surface. The sound didn’t even make him flinch, he just looked at the sparkles the pieces made as they spread across the floor. The anger welled up without mercy, it fed on him, on Wolverine, trying to break free. Logan held the cigar just above his left arm, sliding it sideways, slowly, until the skin began to melt. The smell was disgusting in a way, but it was a kind of smell he knew, and it was painful, and that it had to be. Had to be. He clamped his teeth shut, while trying to embrace the ache as much as he could. It would heal, anything would heal. But you can’t heal everything, don’t you know that by now? You cannot heal from this thing you’re running from. Can you heal your heart? Ignoring the burning skin and the faint voice in his head was difficult, he tried so hard, and managed to suppress the voice into a buzz. Eventually it would go away, just like the pain.

Someone grabbed him by the arms, forcing the cigar away from him. Logan focused and stared coolly at the intruder. He knew him only by sight, it was one of the newer mutants that Charles had welcomed to the mansion.

“Let go of me”, Logan growled, but managed a smile, probably crooked but yet a smile. It didn’t reach his eyes though.

The stranger shrugged lightly and released him, still looking worried and, what Logan thought was, puzzled. He took a step back and sat down on the couch opposite to him. Something about the guy made Logan wary, he wasn’t exactly sure he was comfortable having a half naked stranger staring at him. It wasn’t the naked part though, there was something else, and Wolverine’s senses had picked up on that something, but what was it? Obviously he had stared back long and hard enough for the other man to raise his hands in an sort of peace offering way.

“Did you want something?” Logan asked calmly.

“No, I just happened to be around. It looked pretty damn dangerous,” he said, gesturing at Logan’s arm, “that thing … what you were doing.”

Logan checked his arm, it had already healed, and only faint burn marks remained on the skin. “See, nothing to worry about?” He bit of each word. “Who are you anyway? I’ve seen you around, I take it you’re one of the new ones the professor has taken in.”

“I guess you could say that”, he said, nodding. “My name’s Naja, and you are?”

Oh, really now, Logan thought. He’d overheard both Ro and Jean talk about the snake man. Well, aren’t you showing off, walking around half naked around the school for everyone to see? He didn’t say it out loud, even though it was more than tempting, but he wasn’t a prejudge mental kind of guy so Naja still had the chance to prove himself.

“Wolverine, but the name’s Logan.”

“I’ve heard that name mentioned a couple of times”, Naja said evenly, sort of measuring Logan with his eyes, or so it seemed.

Logan gave a short laugh, and got up from the armchair. “I just bet you have, but let me tell you one thing,” he said, searching his pockets for a new cigar and couldn’t find one, “don’t believe everything you hear,” he continued and grabbed what was left of the cigar Naja had taken, lit it and inhaled, “and last but not least, don’t do that again”, Logan finished, voice softer than what was called for, almost to the point of it being mocking. He walked past Naja without bothering to wait for a response.

The glass crunched under his boots, leaving it for some one else to clean up the mess. As he left the room a woman passed by, giving him an intense look, full of promises and threats and a lot of things, more or less confusing to him, her presence had minx written all over it. For a second he wanted to fuck her, he wanted to press her against the wall and fuck her hard. No. No, no, no, he thought, shaking his head as if his vision had gone all blurry. No, fucking strangers just wasn’t … she had undressed him with that one glance as they passed each other, captured him with her dark green eyes, pierced him for a second. He could’ve just taken her right there and … No! Stop doing that, no, no, no, he told himself. Wolverine knew better, underneath that luscious body lay something darker, something vicious. The scent made him suddenly want to back away from her, but by the time that thought crossed his mind, she had lost interest in him. He could overhear her talking to Naja, but not what it was about.

Oh, well. Logan shrugged slightly to himself, he’d never cared that much for skin tight vinyl cat suits anyway. He liked his women wearing clothing that would come off a hell of a lot faster than slinky things like that. Loose fitting silky kimonos and nighties with spaghetti straps, the short ones, those he did prefer. Nighties that he could easily rip apart, oh yes, Wolverine loved that. It also left some things to the imagination, and satin rubbing against nipples, making them hard and visible … He snapped out of the fantasy at the familiar, and annoying sound of Scott Summers. What the fuck did that prick want with him now?