I know I said that I would wait . . . BUT, I can't. Sorry you guys, but I
HAVE to start another fic! Wish me luck!
And please Review!
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The man only known as 'Logan' pulled his cowboy hat low over his face, covering his distinctive features. For some reason he felt as though someone were following him. It wasn't any big thing for him to be able to say he was a wanted man, every mutant on the planet was 'wanted', but Logan, a.k.a. Wolverine, had managed to give government agents the slip more than once. The posters of his face said he was a wanton murderer, and went on to describe a list of the most fearsome crimes imaginable. He hadn't even committed half of them!
The other half . . .
They had it coming to them, he firmly believed that. He had lived a long time thanks to his regenerative capabilities, and he had seen the cruelty humanity had to offer more than enough times. They would never learn from their mistakes, of that he was certain. Their were already plans for mutant 'camps' similar to what the Nazi's created during the Holocaust.
Logan was a violent man by nature, and the anti-mutant bigots set his blood running. He couldn't be held accountable for his actions.
Not unless they caught him.
He didn't see himself as a 'rebel leader' or a 'freedom fighter' or anything else remotely heroic. He was just fed up with the totalitarian transformation taking over the government. So whenever he came across a mutant being 'registered', or unwillingly 'detained', he intervened.
The fact that he loved a good fight might have had something to do with it.
Regardless, he was something of a legend that mutants only whispered about on dark nights. He wasn't sure he liked that. The government was right about one thing. He WAS a murderer. But at least he killed the bad guys.
He couldn't shake the nagging suspicion he was being followed. As he turned, heading towards a darkened street, he felt a tug at his back pocket. Growling, he whirled around, fists ready to release his adamantium claws.
And than he froze.
The culprit wasn't a government agent.
It wasn't an assassin, paid to take him out.
Or another mutant, out for blood.
It was a girl, probably around eleven or twelve.
Slowly he put his fists down, almost able to laugh at his immediate reaction to the little thief. Her gloved hand was empty, so he knew his wallet was safe. "What do you think you're doing?" He growled, deciding that a good scare would be good for the would-be criminal.
"Y'all had somethin' on the back o' your pants." The southerner lifted her head defiantly, causing a strand of white hair to fall across her green eyes. "Ah was just brushin' it off for ya."
Brown hair streaked with white . . . that was unusual. "Really?" Logan couldn't hide his amusement.
She nodded, warming up to her story. "An' don't y'all even THINK Ah was checkin' out your butt mister, cause Ah wasn't." The girl even managed a blush. What an actress! Logan was impressed.
"What's your name, Stripes?" He surprised himself by giving her the nickname. It wasn't like him to be so friendly. He HATED kids.
"What's yours?" She countered with a tilt of her head.
"I'm Logan." He stuck out his hand gravely, as if introducing himself to a distinguished woman.
"Ah'm Stripes." She mocked, clasping his warm hand into her gloved one. He burst out laughing.
"Don't they call you anything else, kid?" He noticed her flinch at the word 'kid'.
"There ain't nobody to call me nothin', but Ah guess y'all can call me Rogue."
"Now, what kind of a name is Rogue?" He wanted to add, 'for a little girl', but he didn't think that'd sit well with her.
"What kind of a name is 'Wolverine'?" Their eyes met, and he saw a painful wisdom in her emerald depths. "Ah saw the posters a couple o' blocks back."
"So you were following me." It wasn't a question.
"Maybe Ah was, maybe Ah wasn't." She shrugged noncommittally.
"Normally pickpockets don't go through so much effort to find a victim." He crossed his arms.
"Ya forgot, Ah'm not a pickpocket, Ah'm just a kind citizen that tried to help clean your pants." Her eyes twinkled. She was obviously enjoying toying with him.
He regarded her thoughtfully. It was possible she was a mutant. Her hair was odd enough anyway, and that could be why she decided to follow him. She probably wanted join the 'cause' or something. "You're really good at avoiding my questions, aren't you?"
"You're just not asking the right ones, Sugah." A smile played at the corner of her lips.
"Why were you following me?" The look in his eyes told her to stop playing games.
"Ah wanted ta talk ta ya." She met his gaze defiantly. He waited patiently for her to continue. "Ah figured Ah could get your attention easy enough by takin' your wallet."
He snorted. "Well now you have it, Stripes, Rogue, whatever your name is."
"Rogue." She lifted her chin haughtily. "Mah name is Rogue, an' Ah'm a mutant too, Logan." She emphasized his name. He had to force himself not to smile. The girl was cheeky, that was for sure. If he wasn't careful, he'd get attached to the spitfire.
"So?" Her shoulders slumped. He wasn't gonna make this easy for her, was he?
"SO, Ah was wonderin' if y'all were headin' mah way?" There. It was out. She met his gaze squarely.
"I don't think so kid. Wolverines aren't team players. Why don't you go back home to your family? I'm sure they're worried sick." He tugged at his jacket, making him look even tougher.
The girl refused to be intimidated. "Rogue's aren't team players either. Ah'm not lookin' for a baby sitter, Ah can take care of mahself. But ain't it okay ta have someone at your back? Just in case?"
He stared at her. She sounded like a veteran fighter, by she was only a kid. "That's what family is for."
"An' if their the one's ya need ta watch out for?" Her eyes were unreadable.
"Than you've got a real hard life ahead of you, Stripes." He reevaluated her with his eyes.
She shifted under his gaze. "Ah don't want, or need, your pity."
"An' you don't have it."
She opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by a voice from the end of the street.
"I thought it was you, Wolverine." The masculine voice was decidedly snide. "Back up will be here soon, and than me and you are going on a little trip."
Logan groaned inwardly. Obviously, it hadn't been the girl he'd felt following him. "Leave." He muttered out of the corner of his mouth, casting her a warning glance.
"Fat chance." Her gloved fists clenched and her jaw tightened. He would have admired her spunk if it weren't so misplaced.
"Over here boys!"
Back up had arrived.
With the cry, the Wolverine leapt forward, unsheathing both sets of claws before landing amidst the agents. The street was empty, so he didn't have to worry about hurting bystanders.
Not that he would have been worried.
His rage took over. Maybe it was part of his mutation, or maybe he just had anger management problems. Whatever the case, something took over him in the heat of the battle, something fierce and deadly. When the fight ended, it was like waking up from a hazy dream.
He glanced around at the dead bodies surrounding him. Fourteen. But hadn't there been seventeen?
He turned, emitting a low growl from his throat, but stopped short at what he found.
Rogue was calmly pulling her glove back on, seemingly unaware of the three bodies at her feet. One of them had bruises, as though he'd been beaten severely, but the other two didn't have a mark on them, though they reeked of being near death.
Another glance at the girl told him he might have been wrong about her being calm. Tears glistened in her dark green eyes, though she blinked rapidly to hide them.
"Hey, kid--" She jerked her hand up, successfully silencing him as she dealt with an internal battle. After a few moments of quiet, she seemed to have regained her composure.
"Sorry." She said shortly. "Ah got a bit confused there."
He gestured meaningfully towards the bodies. "How?"
"Ah told you Ah was a mutant." She wouldn't meet his gaze. "When someone touches mah . . .mah skin, they get hurt. Usually, they go into a coma. Than Ah get their minds. If it's a mutant Ah touch, Ah get their powers. Ordinary humans, Ah get their knowledge and other abilities. Like him." She pointed to one of the fallen, unmarked men. "He was an expert in hand to hand fighting, so Ah used that against his buddy here." She gestured to the bruised man. Her hand moved to signify the last of the unconscious agents. "He touched me when Ah was fighting the other one."
"Is that why you're all covered up?" It was a stupid question, but he didn't know what to say. That was a rare thing for him.
"Yeah. And uh, sorry again for what happened right after. It gets kinda loud in here." She tapped the side of her skull. "Sometimes Ah need to concentrate to shut them up."
He had to try very hard to hide the horror her words brought about. She was untouchable. This spunky girl that would grow to be a courageous woman would never again feel the touch of another human being unless it was in a combat situation. It was amazing she didn't go insane if the voices really did stick around. "What did you say your name was again?"
"Rogue." She flashed him a grin. "So where're we headed?"
"We're gonna find a place to stay for the night." If he noticed her grin grow at the word 'we're' he didn't say anything.
He didn't know it at the time, but over the course of the next three years she would become legendary with him. The Rogue and the Wolverine were the two fiercest mutant fighters, and they never got caught. The mere mention of their names inspired hope in desperate mutates.
They didn't know the Rogue was only a girl, that she'd met Logan when she was twelve.
They didn't know that the Wolverine was dealing with his own demons from his past, and that the only thing he 'really' cared about was the stripe- haired girl.
They didn't know that the woman-child fought for her sanity daily.
They didn't know of the nightmares that haunted the feral man.
Legends are fully of not-knowings, but somewhere, someone knew. And that someone was waiting for the perfect opportunity to capture the two 'heroes' . . . alive.
Project Mutant Assassin would soon be underway.
~**~*~*~*~~**~*~~**~*~*~*~*~~**~~**~*~*~*~~**~*~~**~*~*~~**~~**~*~*~*~*~~**~ ~**~*~*
Okay, I'm ending it here. Not much angst yet. There will be more in the second, but especially third, chapters. Five stories at once . . . what AM I doing to myself?! Oh well. Anyways, for the record, I update by number of reviews. So if my other fics get more reviews than this, it'll be a long time before this is updated. So if you like, tell me! ;o)
And please Review!
********~~~~~~~~~~**********~~~~~~~~**********~~~~~~~~*********~~~~~~~~***** **~~~~~
The man only known as 'Logan' pulled his cowboy hat low over his face, covering his distinctive features. For some reason he felt as though someone were following him. It wasn't any big thing for him to be able to say he was a wanted man, every mutant on the planet was 'wanted', but Logan, a.k.a. Wolverine, had managed to give government agents the slip more than once. The posters of his face said he was a wanton murderer, and went on to describe a list of the most fearsome crimes imaginable. He hadn't even committed half of them!
The other half . . .
They had it coming to them, he firmly believed that. He had lived a long time thanks to his regenerative capabilities, and he had seen the cruelty humanity had to offer more than enough times. They would never learn from their mistakes, of that he was certain. Their were already plans for mutant 'camps' similar to what the Nazi's created during the Holocaust.
Logan was a violent man by nature, and the anti-mutant bigots set his blood running. He couldn't be held accountable for his actions.
Not unless they caught him.
He didn't see himself as a 'rebel leader' or a 'freedom fighter' or anything else remotely heroic. He was just fed up with the totalitarian transformation taking over the government. So whenever he came across a mutant being 'registered', or unwillingly 'detained', he intervened.
The fact that he loved a good fight might have had something to do with it.
Regardless, he was something of a legend that mutants only whispered about on dark nights. He wasn't sure he liked that. The government was right about one thing. He WAS a murderer. But at least he killed the bad guys.
He couldn't shake the nagging suspicion he was being followed. As he turned, heading towards a darkened street, he felt a tug at his back pocket. Growling, he whirled around, fists ready to release his adamantium claws.
And than he froze.
The culprit wasn't a government agent.
It wasn't an assassin, paid to take him out.
Or another mutant, out for blood.
It was a girl, probably around eleven or twelve.
Slowly he put his fists down, almost able to laugh at his immediate reaction to the little thief. Her gloved hand was empty, so he knew his wallet was safe. "What do you think you're doing?" He growled, deciding that a good scare would be good for the would-be criminal.
"Y'all had somethin' on the back o' your pants." The southerner lifted her head defiantly, causing a strand of white hair to fall across her green eyes. "Ah was just brushin' it off for ya."
Brown hair streaked with white . . . that was unusual. "Really?" Logan couldn't hide his amusement.
She nodded, warming up to her story. "An' don't y'all even THINK Ah was checkin' out your butt mister, cause Ah wasn't." The girl even managed a blush. What an actress! Logan was impressed.
"What's your name, Stripes?" He surprised himself by giving her the nickname. It wasn't like him to be so friendly. He HATED kids.
"What's yours?" She countered with a tilt of her head.
"I'm Logan." He stuck out his hand gravely, as if introducing himself to a distinguished woman.
"Ah'm Stripes." She mocked, clasping his warm hand into her gloved one. He burst out laughing.
"Don't they call you anything else, kid?" He noticed her flinch at the word 'kid'.
"There ain't nobody to call me nothin', but Ah guess y'all can call me Rogue."
"Now, what kind of a name is Rogue?" He wanted to add, 'for a little girl', but he didn't think that'd sit well with her.
"What kind of a name is 'Wolverine'?" Their eyes met, and he saw a painful wisdom in her emerald depths. "Ah saw the posters a couple o' blocks back."
"So you were following me." It wasn't a question.
"Maybe Ah was, maybe Ah wasn't." She shrugged noncommittally.
"Normally pickpockets don't go through so much effort to find a victim." He crossed his arms.
"Ya forgot, Ah'm not a pickpocket, Ah'm just a kind citizen that tried to help clean your pants." Her eyes twinkled. She was obviously enjoying toying with him.
He regarded her thoughtfully. It was possible she was a mutant. Her hair was odd enough anyway, and that could be why she decided to follow him. She probably wanted join the 'cause' or something. "You're really good at avoiding my questions, aren't you?"
"You're just not asking the right ones, Sugah." A smile played at the corner of her lips.
"Why were you following me?" The look in his eyes told her to stop playing games.
"Ah wanted ta talk ta ya." She met his gaze defiantly. He waited patiently for her to continue. "Ah figured Ah could get your attention easy enough by takin' your wallet."
He snorted. "Well now you have it, Stripes, Rogue, whatever your name is."
"Rogue." She lifted her chin haughtily. "Mah name is Rogue, an' Ah'm a mutant too, Logan." She emphasized his name. He had to force himself not to smile. The girl was cheeky, that was for sure. If he wasn't careful, he'd get attached to the spitfire.
"So?" Her shoulders slumped. He wasn't gonna make this easy for her, was he?
"SO, Ah was wonderin' if y'all were headin' mah way?" There. It was out. She met his gaze squarely.
"I don't think so kid. Wolverines aren't team players. Why don't you go back home to your family? I'm sure they're worried sick." He tugged at his jacket, making him look even tougher.
The girl refused to be intimidated. "Rogue's aren't team players either. Ah'm not lookin' for a baby sitter, Ah can take care of mahself. But ain't it okay ta have someone at your back? Just in case?"
He stared at her. She sounded like a veteran fighter, by she was only a kid. "That's what family is for."
"An' if their the one's ya need ta watch out for?" Her eyes were unreadable.
"Than you've got a real hard life ahead of you, Stripes." He reevaluated her with his eyes.
She shifted under his gaze. "Ah don't want, or need, your pity."
"An' you don't have it."
She opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by a voice from the end of the street.
"I thought it was you, Wolverine." The masculine voice was decidedly snide. "Back up will be here soon, and than me and you are going on a little trip."
Logan groaned inwardly. Obviously, it hadn't been the girl he'd felt following him. "Leave." He muttered out of the corner of his mouth, casting her a warning glance.
"Fat chance." Her gloved fists clenched and her jaw tightened. He would have admired her spunk if it weren't so misplaced.
"Over here boys!"
Back up had arrived.
With the cry, the Wolverine leapt forward, unsheathing both sets of claws before landing amidst the agents. The street was empty, so he didn't have to worry about hurting bystanders.
Not that he would have been worried.
His rage took over. Maybe it was part of his mutation, or maybe he just had anger management problems. Whatever the case, something took over him in the heat of the battle, something fierce and deadly. When the fight ended, it was like waking up from a hazy dream.
He glanced around at the dead bodies surrounding him. Fourteen. But hadn't there been seventeen?
He turned, emitting a low growl from his throat, but stopped short at what he found.
Rogue was calmly pulling her glove back on, seemingly unaware of the three bodies at her feet. One of them had bruises, as though he'd been beaten severely, but the other two didn't have a mark on them, though they reeked of being near death.
Another glance at the girl told him he might have been wrong about her being calm. Tears glistened in her dark green eyes, though she blinked rapidly to hide them.
"Hey, kid--" She jerked her hand up, successfully silencing him as she dealt with an internal battle. After a few moments of quiet, she seemed to have regained her composure.
"Sorry." She said shortly. "Ah got a bit confused there."
He gestured meaningfully towards the bodies. "How?"
"Ah told you Ah was a mutant." She wouldn't meet his gaze. "When someone touches mah . . .mah skin, they get hurt. Usually, they go into a coma. Than Ah get their minds. If it's a mutant Ah touch, Ah get their powers. Ordinary humans, Ah get their knowledge and other abilities. Like him." She pointed to one of the fallen, unmarked men. "He was an expert in hand to hand fighting, so Ah used that against his buddy here." She gestured to the bruised man. Her hand moved to signify the last of the unconscious agents. "He touched me when Ah was fighting the other one."
"Is that why you're all covered up?" It was a stupid question, but he didn't know what to say. That was a rare thing for him.
"Yeah. And uh, sorry again for what happened right after. It gets kinda loud in here." She tapped the side of her skull. "Sometimes Ah need to concentrate to shut them up."
He had to try very hard to hide the horror her words brought about. She was untouchable. This spunky girl that would grow to be a courageous woman would never again feel the touch of another human being unless it was in a combat situation. It was amazing she didn't go insane if the voices really did stick around. "What did you say your name was again?"
"Rogue." She flashed him a grin. "So where're we headed?"
"We're gonna find a place to stay for the night." If he noticed her grin grow at the word 'we're' he didn't say anything.
He didn't know it at the time, but over the course of the next three years she would become legendary with him. The Rogue and the Wolverine were the two fiercest mutant fighters, and they never got caught. The mere mention of their names inspired hope in desperate mutates.
They didn't know the Rogue was only a girl, that she'd met Logan when she was twelve.
They didn't know that the Wolverine was dealing with his own demons from his past, and that the only thing he 'really' cared about was the stripe- haired girl.
They didn't know that the woman-child fought for her sanity daily.
They didn't know of the nightmares that haunted the feral man.
Legends are fully of not-knowings, but somewhere, someone knew. And that someone was waiting for the perfect opportunity to capture the two 'heroes' . . . alive.
Project Mutant Assassin would soon be underway.
~**~*~*~*~~**~*~~**~*~*~*~*~~**~~**~*~*~*~~**~*~~**~*~*~~**~~**~*~*~*~*~~**~ ~**~*~*
Okay, I'm ending it here. Not much angst yet. There will be more in the second, but especially third, chapters. Five stories at once . . . what AM I doing to myself?! Oh well. Anyways, for the record, I update by number of reviews. So if my other fics get more reviews than this, it'll be a long time before this is updated. So if you like, tell me! ;o)