Author: Elizabeth Wilde
Title: Second Thoughts
Series: sequel to "Fugitive", which is a sequel to
"Touch Me Fall"
Distribution: Anyone who already has my fic, anyone
who asks me,
http://www.geocities.com/aloysiusj/xfic.html
Disclaimer: I own nothing! I merely borrow and
worship. Don't sue, k?
'Ship: none
Rating: PG
Spoilers: the movie, the other two fics
Feedback: Gods, yes! wilde_moon@yahoo.com
Notes: You can see the pretty picture I made to go
with it at
http://www.geocities.com/aloysiusj/secondthoughts.html

"Second Thoughts"

So we're okay,
We're fine.
Baby, I'm here to stop your crying,
Chase all the ghosts from your head;
I'm stronger than the monster beneath your bed,
Smarter than the tricks played on your heart.
We'll look at them together then we'll take them apart
Adding up the total of a love that's true
Multiply life by the power of two.

Wolverine left Scott's motorcycle by the front gate
and stalked toward the entrance to Xavier's School.
He'd considered stashing in the woods and telling
Cyclops he'd wrecked it just to get a reaction, but
Logan didn't want to risk it getting stolen by anyone
but him. Part of him still encouraged said to turn
around and walk back the way he'd come, but, Logan
realized, he didn't really know what that way was.
Predictably, the door was open when he reached it. If
anyone unsavory came around, they wouldn't make it far
anyway.

Entering the school, Logan suddenly froze. Jean Grey
stood just inside the door, mouth slightly agape, eyes
wide. She recovered quickly, smiling warmly and
stepping closer. "Logan! I'm glad you decided to
come back to us." Tilting her head to the side, she
asked, "What about Canada?" No accusation colored the
question, only curiosity and a hint of amusement.

"Yeah, well, didn't seem that important after I
thought about it." He fished for
something--anything--to say and failed. The urge to
run away again was almost overwhelming in the face of
her beauty and kind welcome. "Where's Rogue?"

"Upstairs." Jean's dark eyes seemed to see through
him as easily as before. "She's missed you too. Why
don't you go on up?"

Nodding shortly, Logan walked past Jean and then
ascended the stairs. He barely suppressed a snarl at
seeing Cyclops talking with one of the students at the
head of the stairs. The young man smiled and nodded
to Wolverine as if seeing him was entirely expected.
"Welcome back."

Ignoring purposefully every cutting comment that
sprung to mind, Logan ignored him, continuing towards
Rogue's room. He stopped outside the door, mind
searching for the best way to approach her. "Knocking
might be a good idea," he mumbled to himself.

After three quick taps on the door, Rogue's voice
came, "Come on in."

Logan turned the knob and silently berated himself for
feeling nervous. "Hey." He offered a quick, strained
smile and stepped inside. "Miss me?"

Face suddenly beaming, Rogue launched herself off the
bed and ran to Logan, stopped just short of throwing
her arms around his waist. Instead she stopped
awkwardly and half-smiled. "Yeah, I missed ya."

Knowing Rogue was just trying to avoid hurting him,
Logan took the initiative, drawing her close and
giving her a warm hug. "No sense worryin' about stuff
like this, okay, kid?"

She nodded against his shoulder. "Okay."

Finally stepping back, Wolverine studied Marie for a
moment with a critical eye. "You sleepin' okay?"

She shrugged noncommittally. "Sometimes." Her large
eyes gazed up at him. "I have dreams most nights,
though."

"Yeah. I figured." Sighing, Logan sat down on the
edge of her bed. "You shouldn't hafta have those.
Not fit for anybody, let alone a kid like you."

Rogue scowled at him. "I'm almost eighteen. I'm not
a kid anymore." She sat down on the bed next to him.
"'Sides, I've kinda liked knowin' about you more.
Havin' the dreams made it seem like you weren't gone
almost. They kinda helped." Suddenly something
occurred to her and she untwined her fingers from the
tags around her neck. Lifting them over her hair,
Rogue held them out for Logan to take back. "I kept
'em for ya."

"Thanks." He reached for them, then reconsidered and
let his hand fall. "Know what? You keep 'em. You
hang onto those and that way I can't ever get too far,
okay?"

She slipped the tags over her head again, fingers
instantly tangling themselves in the cold metal.
"Okay. Not that I'd let ya leave again anyway."

"You wouldn't, would you?" Logan almost laughed.

"Nope. It's dull as dirt around here when you're
gone."

Laughing despite himself, Logan put his arm around
Rogue's shoulder. "Since you put it that way, I guess
I've gotta stay."

"I knew ya couldn't leave more than once. You'd miss
me too much."

Logan sighed and smiled down at Marie. "Yeah. Yeah,
I would."