 
                       Weapon X- Cougar By Gambit
 
_Weapon-X: Cougar_
 
_By Gambit_
 
 
 
 
 
_Chapter Three_
 
 
 
 
 
The really cool part about having the room he did, was the balcony.
From the balcony, one could climb to the roof. And that was just the
spot he was and wanted to be. He could feel the wind blowing through
his hair and on his face. He felt free– His room felt more like a cage.
He knew that it wasn’t, but that was the way the boy felt.
 
 
 
So he sat cross legged on the roof, looking out over the trees.
 
 
 
Mason looked down at part of the wardrobe that him and Rogue had picked
out. He was wearing a sleeveless denim button-up shirt that was dark
blue and a pair of black Levi jeans. Not to mention his new black
boots. He had told the girl that he didn’t need the boots, but in the
in she on.
 
 
 
The boy glanced at the Timex he was wearing, also Rogue’s idea, and
winced. It was about thirty minutes until it was time to go to dinner.
If it was just Rogue, he wouldn’t mind. In fact, the thought of having
dinner with the girl was a pretty damn pleasant one.
 
 
 
No, it was the fact that the rest of the school would be there. Mason
didn’t no why, but he hated being around a bunch of people. It made him
feel crowded and set his senses on fire. Like today at the mall. His
sensitive hearing was picking up all sorts of things. And the smell . .
. God, the smell made his nose almost burn. But he made it, with the
help of Rogue. If she wasn’t there, he would have walked out in the
first two minutes that he was there.
 
 
 
But, with the help of Rogue, he walked out with seven sets of clothes.
 
 
 
Mason let out an explosive sigh. It was almost time. And Rogue made him
*promise *that he would wear one of those sets to dinner. *Maybe I
could skip it and say I was sick . . . Nah, she would never go for it,
she’s probably already heard about my healing factor.* He thought,
still gazing out over the trees.
 
 
 
That’s when he heard a knock at the door. He gave an automatic growl at
the person that destroyed his peaceful bubble. He hopped off the roof
and onto the balcony with negligent ease. His nose twitched slightly at
the direction of the door. “C’mon in, Logan.” He called out resting his
forearms on the balcony’s railing.
 
 
 
Logan opened the door and walked in and over to where Mason was
standing. He pulled out a pack of small cigars and offered one to the
boy . . . And watched Mason’s eyes light up at the thought of nicotine.
“Thought ya smoked. Smelled it on ya when they brought you in.”
 
 
 
Mason just nodded in agreement as Logan gave him a light. “Damn stores
wouldn’t sale them to me today.” Mason replied, taking in a deep breath
of smoke. “Is this a social call, or . . .” He let the sentence trail.
 
 
 
Logan chewed on the end of his cigar, thinking of how to put what he
had to say into the right words. “Little bit of both.” he replied.
 
 
 
“Just spit it out.”
 
 
 
“Got yer lab results back on that blood Red took from ya.” Logan said,
taking a drag of smoke. He watched the kid do it as well. If it wasn’t
for the healing factor, Logan wouldn’t have offered him one.
 
 
 
Mason leveled a direct stare at Wolverine. “Quit beating around the
bush, Logan, and spit it the fuck out.” He could tell though, that
Logan wasn’t the least bit intimidated by him.
 
 
 
“Yer Pa’s name is Victor Creed. Some call him Sabertooth, though . . .
He ain’t a very nice man. And he’s killed more than a fair share of
innocent people. And me an him has gone a round or two.” He got that
out and watched how Mason’s eyes shadowed over.
 
 
 
Mason nodded at this, it disturbed him greatly, but he didn’t know what
to do about it. “Anything else?”
 
 
 
“Yer healing factor and heightened senses ain’t the only mutations you
got. Ya had some put in ya by the same people that put that there metal
in yer bones,” Logan replied in a blunt and gravelly tone.
 
 
 
Mason gave him a blank look.
 
 
 
“Them bastards gave you more than adamantium.” Logan explained. Then he
wondered just *why* the hell did he *volunteer *to tell the kid this
shit. He watched as Mason’s eyes grew as cold as ice chips,
 
 
 
“What’d they give me?” He growled out. 

 
 
Logan reached into his pocket, pulling out a quarter and handing it to
Mason. “They gave you the ability to charge inanimate objects and have
them explode on impact. Least, that’s what Red told me.”
 
 
 
Before Mason took the quarter, he had one more question. “How’s the
search for the Ring leaders for H.O.H. goin’?”
 
 
 
“Chuck ain’t found’em yet. But he will. That man has got a hell of a
lot of contacts.” He watched as Mason took the quarter, Mason’s teeth
firmly clamped down on the end of his cigar. “What am I supposed to do?”
 
 
 
“Well, from the way Red explained it; Yer just supposed to imagine your
energy is goin’ into the object. She said you’d know when it worked.”
He replied, watching Mason closely. They boy was hiding his emotions
like a pro. He knew that he’d keep them bottled up until he was alone.
 
 
 
But in truth, Mason’s thoughts were in a whirlwind that would have made
a hurricane happy. *This is just fuckin’ great. Another reason for
people to fear me. *He thought to himself. *If I _ever _find those sons
of bitches . . . *He let the thought trail as he looked at the quarter. 

 
 
Despite his intense hatred for the H.O.H., Mason was a little more than
curious. *Ok, just imagine you’re energy going into the quarter.*
 
* *
 
Logan watched with fascination as the quarter that he gave the kid
started to grow a bright red. Mason face was a pure study of
concentration. Then, without hint or preview, Mason threw the quarter
so that it landed on the ground. Him and Logan both knew there was no
one there, that’s why he did it.
 
 
 
Logan and Mason both looked over the railing. Out on the school ground,
there was a whole about a two feet wide and a foot deep. Mason let out
a slow whistle. *Now that is one hell of an ability. *He thought with a
smirk.
 
 
 
*<‘**Logan**? What was that?’> *The voice of Jean echoed through his
mind.
 
 
 
*<‘Just Cougar tryin’ something’ out. Don’t worry about it, Darlin.’>*
 
* *
 
*<‘Well, would you please tell him to stop. We have controlled areas
for that.’> *Jean replied with a bit of a smile in her voice.
 
 
 
Logan turned towards Mason with a smirk on his face. “Red said don’t be
blowin’ things up in uncontrolled areas,” He then gave Logan a once
over. “I see Rogue got a hold of ya.”
 
 
 
Mason scowled at the older man. “Yeah, ‘bout three hours of shoppin’
hell. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love hanging out with her . . . But
that place has a lot of people and-- Ah, hell, forget about it.”
 
 
 
“You feel like yer in a cage when that many people is around.”
Wolverine replied to the boy. “Was that the reason ya were on the
roof?” Wolverine saw the surprise on the boy’s face for him
understanding. “Wanna know what I do when it gets to crowded?” He asked
with that same gravelly voice.
 
 
 
Mason just gave him a nod. 

 
 
“Go fer a walk. Maybe camp, out in them woods.” He used his arms to
indicate the forest before them. “It helps, fer a little bit.” 

 
 
Him and Mason just stood in a comfortable silence after that, until
Logan broke it. “Heard them girls talkin’ about finally getting’ to
meet the boy Rogue’s been out with.”
 
 
 
Mason just bowed his head and let out an explosive sigh. “Don’t suppose
there’s anyway to get out of goin’ to dinner is there?”
 
 
 
Wolverine gave a dry chuckle. “Nope. Yer on yer own with this, Cougar.
Rogue would have yer head on a platter if you didn’t show up with yer
new duds on.”
 
 
 
Mason shook his head. *There could be worse things. No, I _know _there
are worse things. *“You wouldn’t happen to have a couple more of these
on ya would ya?” He asked, indicating the cigar he was holding.
 
 
 
Logan pulled out a brand new pack. “Yer lucky I went today town today,
boy.” He replied, handing them over. 

 
 
Mason smirked. “Whatever you say-- Old Man.” 

 
 
“Old, huh? Better watch what ya say boy, or else we’ll see if one of
yer mutations ain’t flyin’. If it ain’t, I imagine that’d hurt pretty
bad.” Logan replied as he walked back into the room and out the door.
 
 
 
Mason took another puff off his cigar and threw the rest off the
balcony. *Guess it’s time to meet the mob. *He thought. Although,
secretly, he was looking forward to meeting Rogue again.
 
 
 
With that thought in mind, he went back into the room and grabbed his
new black duster, sticking his cigars in his pocket. He had one thought
on his mind. *Let’s get this over with.*
 
 
 
                                    ********************
 
 
 
“Spill it Rogue. Every time someone brings him up you blush real cute
like. So spill it.” Jubilee was grilling her friend. “Is he cute?”
 
 
 
“Ya’ll find out inna minute. He told me that he’d come down for dinner.
I wanted to see him in new clothes.” Rogue replied, seeing some of them
frown at her reluctance to gossip. It was the same way when ever a new
boy came to the school. They all tried to gather as much information as
much information as possible.
 
 
 
They hadn’t gossiped this much since a thief named Remy showed up on
the school’s doorstep. The Cajun sure had a way with the ladies,
though. He went through about one a week. He was a charmer, that was
for certain. He didn’t much get anywhere with Rogue though.
 
 
 
All of the sudden, the usually very talkative, Jubilee shut up. She
even stopped chewing her gum as she looked over Rogue’s shoulder.
*Betcha she’s looking at Mason. *She thought. And was more than a
little startled to find a twinge of jealousy in the thought.
 
 
 
Rogue looked over her shoulder, and sure enough, there stood Mason in
all of his glory. His wild, feral  green eyes almost looked like they
were scanning the room for any potential threat before he even
considered coming into the room. After only a few seconds he stepped
over the threshold of the cafeteria. 

 
 
Rogue was very considerate of Mason when she picked her table. She
knew, just from being with him a few hours, that he would hate being in
the *middle *of a room full of people. So she picked a table that was
close to the back wall, where he could keep an eye on the rest of the
students.
 
 
 
She didn’t know what to do with the new feelings that she had for this
boy. She was so sure that she was in love with Logan . . . But after
only a few hours with Mason, she began to wonder if it really was a
teenage infatuation. She was very confused.
 
 
 
“Oh my God, Rogue! He’s a hottie!” Jubilee squealed. “Does my hair look
ok?” The Asian girl with blue eyes asked, tweaking her friend a little.
She had seen the look on Rogue’s face when Mason walked in. *She’s in
major crushdome. *

* *
 
Rogue kicked her in the shin for her troubles.
 
* *
 
Mason scanned the room, looking for a possible threat. Oh, how he
really hated crowds. He spotted Rogue sitting at a table that was close
to the wall. *Well, at least she chose a good seat. *He thought,
running a hand through his errant hair. 

 
 
Mason walked over to where they were serving the food. He thought to
himself how amazingly good it smelled. Then he wondered when the last
time he ate was and couldn’t remember. *Hamburgers and french fries.
Gotta love private school. *He thought with a dry chuckle.
 
 
 
After he got his food he started heading over to where Rogue was
sitting. She was sitting with two girls. One of them was an
Asian-American girl with startling blue eyes and the other brown hair,
and . . . Yep, solid green eyes. No whites at all.
 
 
 
“‘Mind if I sit down?” He asked, his tone was gruff, but he guessed
that Rogue filled them in on the fact that this was how he usually was,
with everyone.
 
 
 
“Rude much?” The Asian-American girl asked with a twinkle in her eye.
She was just going to see if she could get a response out of him, it
was all playful.
 
 
 
The only response that she got from him was a level stare, as he took a
bite out of his burger. *A person could get used to eating like this.
*He thought, still staring at the girl that was staring right back at
him with mischief in her eyes.
 
 
 
“Are you staring at me because of my undeniable beauty, or is there
something growing out of me that there shouldn’t be?” Jubilee asked,
taking on an air of mock sophistication. 

 
 
“Actually I was wondering why you’d be wearing that damn yellow rain
coat when its at least 80 in here.” He replied with only a twitch of a
smile. The truth was, he was already starting to like the girl.
 
 
 
*Oh mah god. He don’t know what he just got himself inta. *Rogue
thought,  covering a smile with her gloved hand. “Hey Jubilee, wasn’t
that a great game we watched on tv last night?” She asked, trying to
cut off what she knew was coming.
 
 
 
It didn’t work.
 
 
 
“Do you have something against my jacket, Mr. Blonde and Mysterious? I
think the only reason you have good fashion sense at the moment is that
my friend Rogue forced it on ya.”
 
 
 
She got a growl for that remark.
 
 
 
“And I also think you act to much like Wolvie!” She stated, as if it
were a revelation.
 
 
 
“Who?” He asked, almost choking on his burger.
 
 
 
“Logan, the Wolvie, AKA Wolverine.” She said with a wicked smile. Like
she knew just speaking the words were a sin.
 
 
 
“I betcha he just *loves* those names.” Mason replied with such subtle
sarcasm that it was hardly detectable. 

 
 
Mason sat and listened to the girls talk for a while longer and pretty
soon Rogue decided that it was time to leave the lunch area. She looked
at Mason and asked, “Ya wanna go walkin’  he school grounds with a real
life southern gal?” She asked with just a tad of flirtation in her
voice. Rogue didn’t like being overly flirtatious in front of people.
Especially Jubilee.
 
 
 
“That’s the best offer I’ve had all day.” Mason stated as he stood up,
grabbing his tray. They were both starting to walk to where they put up
their trays when it happened. It was all a complete accident, but
turned into much more.
 
 
 
A boy accidentally bumped into Rogue and jumped back up five feet, like
Rogue was pure poison. “You didn’t touch me did you?!” He asked, almost
frantically.
 
 
 
Mason saw the tears well up in Rogue’s eyes. That’s when it happened.
He snapped. With one fluid motion he reached over and picked up the boy
by his throat about two feet and slammed him into the ground as hard
his he could.
 
 
 
Cougar was going to say something to the boy, but he the boy was
unconscious. He debated the idea of beating him while he was
unconscious and decided against it. So instead, he let out a growl that
would have made a cougar happy. He then threw his arm around Rogues
shoulders.
 
 
 
“Let’s go for that walk, Darlin.” That was all he said.
 
