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Sitting on opposite sides of the fire, the night settling around them, the somewhat companionable duo busied themselves with partaking in their first fresh meal in almost ten days. Even though the idea of how it came to them had been more than a little putting off to her, even Ororo agreed that the antelope had been a godsend…or in her case, goddess-send.

Not that she would say it out aloud, least of all not to the man in front of her.

Still, she did want to say something to him. Something. Anything. Whatever would help to bridge the chasm of uncomfortable silence that had opened up between her and her travel companion.

//Flashback//

“What is this?” The way she stared at him and then at the dead animal he had dropped on the ground not five feet from her feet, Logan might as well have thrown an alien in front of her.

“Food,” the response shot out, and even though she frowned in return, Ororo had expected no more and possibly even less from him. “What does it look like?” It was almost as if he had forced himself to speak those words, and knowing Logan, he most probably had.

“I know what it is,” Ororo’s return had more sarcasm and less anger. “It is a Topi. They are very common here on…”

-SNIKT-

The shooting out of the metal claws from one hand interrupted her, as sitting down on his haunches; Logan began to skin the young buck.

“…on the Serengeti.” Ororo continued, crossing her hands at her chest. “But why did you have to get this. We already have food, and besides this is just a young one. Why…”

“I ain’t eatin’ anymore of that canned shit,” Logan snapped at her, his hands continuing their deft actions. “Not today. Besides, it ain’t like anyone’s gonna miss it.”

“What do you mean?” Ororo’s frown deepened.

“The mother’s dead,” Logan grunted without looking back at her. “The others just kicked it out. Sooner or later someone woulda found him. That or hunger. Either way, it was a goner.”

He spoke from experience, his words a hard harsh truth, a truth that even Ororo knew about from having lived it. In the wild, it was survival of the fittest and for the young it meant the survival of their parents…usually the mother.

“So, you chose to become the one who ‘found him’,” Ororo tossed his phrase back at him. “You could have just helped him.”

“What else is this?” This time he did turn to her, but only because the skinning was complete. “This is help.”


“Killing someone isn’t help Wolverine,” and just like that, even before either of them realized the conversation took a turn for the worse, the amusement dancing in Logan’s eyes getting squashed by the cold hardness of the Wolverine.

“Logan, I-,” Ororo started, only to be silenced by a barely restrained growl.

“I ain’t Mother-fuckin’-Teresa,” Logan snarled at her, his tightening fist around the animal skin causing even more blood to ooze out from it. “You don’t like me, I could care less. I don’t tell you how to live your life, or the lives of your fuckin’ X-freaks.”

“Lo-”

“This is the wild Ms. Monroe,” he flung one hand to point to the side, the action causing blood to spatter all over the front of Ororo’s shirt, and even on her neck. “You are hungry, you eat. You don’t you die, if not from hunger than from animal bigger than you. It’s the law of the jungle.”

“I know that,” already on a short tether, Ororo was quick to return. “I do not need you to tell me about it. I have lived it.”

“Lived it? Hah!” Logan repeated those words, his tone almost jeering. “You might have lived, but you sure as hell don’t remember it. You’ve gotten so uptight, so up your own ass that you’ve forgotten how to feel, how to live.”

“What do you mean?” It was clear that they weren’t taking about the dead Topi or even about the contradiction between the Wolverine’s and the X-Men’s philosophies. It was personal now.

“You think I can’t hear you crying, smell the salt in the air,” Ororo blanked, her anger plunging into nothingness, a hidden fear wrapping itself around her aching heart.

Her breath all but gone, she dumbly stared at the man before her, his breath coming in pants as well as his tense posture a clear indication of how angry he was.

“Th-That has nothing to do with-”

“Sure it doesn’t.” Logan could not believe that he had actually considered trying to help this-this woman. Who was she to judge him, judge that he did, how he did or even the way he lived his life. No matter how bad, at least he was living it. He wasn’t like her, a breathing shell of a living being. She was-was… Aww fuck, she was crying now. Even though she wasn’t making a sound or even moving, the tears were right there, flowing down her cheeks. Yesterday night had been a particularly bad one for her. Maybe he should have let her rant out a bit, instead of biting her head off.

“Look,” Logan reeled himself in, as much as he could in his current condition. “I told you. There ain’t no way we are getting outta this, not unless we go back the way we came. I did this ‘cause we need to keep a reserve for the way back. You don’t wanna eat it, then don’t. Just don’t tell…” he sighed, rubbing a hand over his forehead and running it through his hair only realizing a second too late that in tired frustration he had forgotten that it was all bloody, the blood that was now all over his face and head. Fuck.

//End Flashback//

---

Elsewhere,

“Hey Drake!”

Bounding up the stairs Jubilee slid in beside the usually lively but currently sulking Iceman. Things hadn’t been easy for him all with brother betraying him and the others to the police and his parents being all weird out about his being a mutant. ‘What better a time for him to receive a visit by the local ‘sugar’ fairy.’

“Why the long face?”

At getting no answer from Bobby, Jubilee tried again. “Hey Iceboy. What’s you got all melted out like a snowman in summer?”

“Nothing,” Jubilee did not even need to see him turn away to know that it was a clear white-faced lie. His tone alone was a neon sign enough, one with three simple words emblazoned on it.

Leave. Me. Alone.

‘What’s up with him?’ Jubilee frowned, wishing that Kitty or even better Rogue were there with her.

Speaking of Rogue, “Hey where’s your girlfriend?” barely had the words left her lips that Jubilee found herself face to face with an extremely angry and clearly looking to burst at his seams, Bobby.

“She is NOT my girlfriend! Understood. She is, NOT. My. Girlfriend.” The bellow rang out aloud in the thankfully empty hall. “She is not…not…” he repeated dejectedly. Pulling himself back and walking away, he left a startled and confused Jubilee standing behind him. She swore that she saw him wipe a stray tear from his eyes.

“What’s with him?” Veering from her original destination, the Asian teen doubled back to and down the stairs leading the ground level. She was looking for the one person who might be able to give some answers about this new development.

Had it been someone other than this particular couple, Jubilee would have found the other half of the ‘Newly Broken-Ups’, but with Rogue acting the way she had been lately, it would be easier to find the Flying Dutchman than finding their elusive roommate, let alone getting her to talk. ‘Heck, this last week, she’s even sleeping in Logan’s room…I think.’ She frowned suddenly feeling rather low about how easily she had allowed one of her best friends to become so solitary and neglected. “But it’s not like Roguey makes things any easier.’

That is why when she stepped into the library, it wasn’t Rogue who Jubilee searched out, but her second roommate, Kitty.

---

Ten minutes and two rounds later,

“Hey Pete,” Jubilee flopped down on the empty chair opposite to the muscled form of Piotr Rasputin, Colossus. “Seen Kitty around?”

“No.” The answer was soft yet tight. The softness Jubilee understood, after all, it was the library, but the tightness and the way Peter’s shoulders tensed up at the mention of Kitty’s name, were enough of a tacit proof that everything wasn’t happy-happy in the Fatherland.

“No, huh.” Time to dig in a bit, press some buttons. “Yeah, like I am going to believe that you don’t know where Kitty is. You two-”

“What do you two want Jubilee?” The question cut her short, as well as confirmed her suspicions. ‘Oh God, not these two too. They even haven’t gotten properly together yet.’ “Okay buddy. What’s wrong with you now?”

No answer.

“I saw Bobby just now. He didn’t seem all that chippy.”

Still nothing.

“Y’know, he and Rogue, they broke up.”

“So, what do you want me to do?” That got a reaction; in fact, it got two reactions. “You don’t you tell that to Katya. That is if she doesn’t know it already.”


Huh. Wha-? What’d I miss? Hoo. What the-

Finally, “What do you mean?”

“I mean…” starting to speak whatever was on his mind, Piotr stopped midway. “Look Jubilee. Please leave me alone. I am not the best of company right now.”

“Yeah, unlike just about every other time when you are a barrels of laughs,” Jubilee cringed at her own words, but what else was she supposed to do. Not only could she not find any of her roommates, it also seemed that there had been some major and potentially explosive changes between them. ‘An’ that too right under my nose!’ She groused. Moreover, even though she got the whole Rogue-Bobby deal, sort of, why was Kitty involved in it? It wasn’t like she had something going on with Bobby behind Rogue’s back. It wasn’t. Really. Because if it was then that would mean…

“Oh God!” She gasped as realization dawned on her. ‘Kit-Kat. What have you done? Oh God. Oh God. Oh GOD!!’ And that too in Rogue’s current condition.

---

A few hours later, Back in Africa,

“Logan.”

“Yeah.” He looked up, just in time to-

“I-I am sorry.”
“What? He wasn’t sure if he heard it correct. True the words had reached him but still, there was no way that she was apologizing to-
“I am sorry.” There it was again, same lip movements, same sound, same words.
“Uh-…”

“About earlier.” Earlier? “I shouldn’t have said those things to you, spoken that way.”
“…”

Why was she staring at him? Did she expect him to say something? Was there blood still on his hair? He’d washed it all out…thrice.

“I just…I…sorry.”

“Uhhh…Yeah” Cough. Cough. “Me too.”

Now it was Ororo’s turn to look confused.

“I mean, I’m sorry too. I shouldn’ta…y’know.”

Accepting that that was the closest thing to an apology that she was going to get from him, Ororo nodded, gave a small smile and started to turn away, most probably heading to turn in for the night.

“Hey ‘Ro. You alright.” She stopped mid move, her eyes shooting up to meet his, growing even wider at the next words that came out of his mouth, words that seemingly surprised him too. “You wanna talk about…”

For a second it looked as if she would shake her head, denying once again his offer.

“About what?”

“About…y’know…” he grappled for an answer, one that would be satisfactory not only to him, but also to her, one that would get her to relax. “Anything.”

“Anything?”

“Yeah, anything.” He frowned. ‘Come on lady. Throw me a friggin’ bone here. What’d you wanna me to do? How the fuck should I know-….owww. Oh yeah.”

“How about starting by telling me what the fuck…I mean, by telling me what are we doing here. I mean, I know it’s important to ya, but fer me it’s like going around blind in the dark. Could sure use a light.”

“Oh.” There, that…that look, it was back, the one that told him that she was looking at him as if she trying to decide whether he was telling the truth or just yanking her chain. “Okay.”

‘Good.’

“It all started back in New York. It was there that I was born. My parents…”

It would be dawn before either of them got any sleep.

Note: With this chapter finished, I have cleared off one more overcooked update from the ‘backlog’ that has collected over the last two months. After First Impressions and now this one, it’s onto ‘To Dream Again’ after which, it’s the much delayed update of ‘Once Upon A Time…’ Readers of those stories; keep your fingers crossed and hope I last long enough to clear out that inventory too.

As for the ending of this chapter and its similarity to Chapter-15 of ‘First Impressions’, that’s a deliberate write-in.

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