Maverick jumped out before the truck had even stopped, running up to the back door and I was hot on his heels half a second later.
He hammered his fist on the door and it yanked open to reveal a pale faced Rogue in a bloody t-shirt. She lunged at Maverick, wrapping her arms around him and he fisted a hand in her long, brunette hair as he held her against him.
I stalked past them into the darkened house, hunting for the monster who'd dared lay a finger on her, needing to be sure he wasn’t still a problem.
Axel was lying in the lounge, a bloody poker firmly wedged in his head as blood pooled out around him. I went to a dark place inside me as I saw all of that blood, that death. But I wasn't afraid like I should have been. I was glad he was dead. Glad he'd felt pain before Rogue had ripped him from this world. Proud of my girl for showing him what happened to anyone who dared try and hurt one of our own.
I stalked back to Rogue and took her hand, drawing her away from Maverick. “Get the tarp,” I instructed him and he nodded, walking away as I guided Rogue deeper into the house.
She was shaking and I held her hand tighter as I sought out a bathroom and drew her into it, switching on the light. It was a small space with just a toilet and a sink, but it would do. I checked her over in the stark light, needing to be sure she wasn’t hurt. Her sapphire blue eyes were puffy and red, but I couldn’t see any other obvious signs of discomfort. The blood splattered over her face and shirt clearly wasn’t hers and I sighed in relief, taking a towel from beside the sink and wetting it.
She remained quiet as I worked to clean the blood from her face and hair before gently dabbing at her busted lip, a growl building in my throat. Then I took the clothes I’d brought for her from my bag and held them out to her.
“I’ll just-” I started, but she pulled off her shirt and dropped her torn panties, making my heart lurch at the sight of her naked body and I rapidly turned my back on her while she changed.
I blinked hard, trying not to think about what I’d just seen and rage blinded me as the bruises on her flesh were imprinted on my mind. I’d never felt anger like it, it was coiling through me like smoke, desperate for an outlet, but with the man responsible already dead, I didn’t know where to aim my fury.
When she was dressed, she caught my hand, turning me to face her again and I folded her in my arms, crushing her into my chest. I could lay my chin on her head now, though I hadn't always been tall enough for that. She fit against me better than she ever had and I never wanted to let her go.
"We're going to deal with this," I promised her. “I’ll always protect you.”
"I'm not sad he's dead," she whispered into my chest.
"Me neither," I growled and she pulled away from me, biting her lip with fear in her eyes and making it bleed again.
"We'll deal with it," I repeated, taking her chin and forcing her to look at me, to see the truth of those words in my gaze. I meant them right down to the depths of my soul. Nothing was going to happen to her because of this. Not on my watch.
She nodded, evidently believing me, though her hands were still shaking and I brought them to my lips to kiss her knuckles. She stilled under my touch and I lifted my eyes to hers, finding her looking at me in a way that I’d always hoped she’d look at me. Like she finally understood the way I felt about her and like maybe she felt it back.
“Rogue…” I murmured, my voice rough as my gaze slipped to her full lips for the briefest moment, tension coiling between us that I felt so powerfully, I had to believe she was feeling it too.
She moved a fraction closer to me, her head tilting the tiniest amount just before a loud bang and a curse came from Maverick as he slammed the back door behind him on his way back inside.
I glanced away and as I looked back to Rogue, the expression vanished from her features and I wondered if I was just deluding myself. I sure as hell couldn’t stand around mulling that over either way.
I kept hold of her hand and headed back into the hall and through to the lounge where Maverick was laying out the tarp like the sight of the body wasn’t the least bit disconcerting to him.
“Do we pull it out or leave it in?” I wondered aloud, pointing at the poker in the guy’s head.
Maverick strode over to him, gripped the end and yanked it out with a firm tug.
“Out,” he announced as Rogue let out a little gasp, but she didn’t take her eyes off of the dead guy.
“You don’t have to stay and watch,” I murmured to her and she pulled her hand free of mine.
“I’m staying,” she said resolutely. “I did this. I can face it.”
“It’s all of our doing now, beautiful,” Maverick said seriously and I nodded my agreement, our fates thoroughly decided. I had absolutely no hesitance about that either. Where Rogue was concerned, I’d battle through the nine circles of hell and face the devil himself without a single doubt in my mind.
Two sets of footsteps up the back steps announced JJ and Chase's arrival and they appeared with worried faces as they sought out Rogue beside me before sighs of relief left them. JJ's shirt was on backwards and Chase looked like he'd run a marathon, his curly brown hair blown back and his breaths coming heavily.
“Are you alright?” JJ asked Rogue, embracing her and she nodded, squeezing him tight as his dark gaze met mine over her shoulder. He was usually so happy and easy going, the first of our group to crack a joke or start the laughter, that seeing that fear and horror in his eyes made my gut lurch.
“What can we do?” Chase asked, his blue eyes cold as he took in the body while Maverick threw the poker onto the tarp.
"We need towels and bleach to clean up the blood," I directed them and they immediately fell into line, the two of them splitting up to search the house.
I moved to help Maverick as he gripped Axel’s shoulders and I grabbed his legs, nodding to my brother before we lifted him up and placed his body on the tarp. It was gross and all, but still my stomach didn’t churn. I guessed my dad’s blood really did run hot in my veins.
Chase appeared with some towels, immediately kneeling down to mop up the blood without a moment's hesitation, his features fixed in stern concentration. When JJ returned with some bleach, he gazed at the dead body with apprehension, his knuckles turning white around the bottle. He was the smallest of all of us still, though by no means did that apply to his balls. His growth spurt was waiting to happen whereas we’d all shot up this year. I could see the man in him ready to come out, but I still felt protective of him all the same and I wasn’t going to watch him get fucked up over this.
"Here." I took the bleach from him and he nodded to me in thanks then we all started cleaning. Rogue determinedly joined in even though I told her she didn’t have to, but there was a strength in her eyes that blazed and my heart settled a little at the sight of it. She wasn’t broken. Not even close. Nothing could break my hummingbird.
Every time a towel became saturated, we tossed it on top of the dead guy until every last drop was gone. Then I poured bleach fucking everywhere we’d been and used the final towel to scrub away the lasting imprint of blood on the floorboards. The acrid scent lingered in the air and my eyes burned as I worked to cover the evidence of Axel’s death with fumbling hands.