The wind whipped through her hair as she sped down the road towards the mansion. Just as it came into view, the rain that had been threatening to fall all evening started to come down. Instead of slowing down, Rogue turned her face towards the sky and laughed. The cool rain was just what she needed after a weekend of playing spy for Xavier.

Since she had joined the team of X-men she had proven herself as a valuable member. With the skills and knowledge she'd picked up from the times she'd touched Logan and Magneto, combined with Scott's rigorous training program for new recruits, she was more than capable of fitting in with nearly any anti-mutant group long enough to find out whatever information was needed for the X-men to take them out. Besides, if infiltration didn't work, she could always touch someone to find out the information she needed to know. The time she had spent with Xavier working on understanding and controlling her mutation had taught her how to manage the thoughts of others in her mind, but she still hadn't gained the ability of skin on skin contact.

Rogue had only been gone for three days, but as she neared the mansion her senses told her that something had changed. She skidded to a halt just inside the garage and smiled as she parked her bike next to Scott's, remembering how long it had taken her to convince him that she could handle it. Turning towards the door to the house, another bike caught her eye. Logan's. At twenty-three she was a full-fledged X-man, but just the idea of Logan being back brought butterflies to her stomach. She'd learned to manage the memories from others in her mind, but she'd never figured out how to handle her feelings. She both hoped and feared him coming back.

Lost in thought, she put her helmet on her bike and headed into the house, not noticing the man watching her from the shadows.

Logan lit the cigar he'd pulled out of his pocket before Rogue had ridden in on her bike. Taking a drag from the Cuban he'd been given by Xavier, he looked back at the door Rogue has disappeared through.

When he'd arrived at the mansion earlier that afternoon he'd been surprised at his greeting from Scott. He'd expected the younger man to be holding onto a grudge, maybe even still grieving over Jean, but instead he'd walked up with a genuine smile and offered his hand. Logan had even taken it, remembering briefly their first meeting when he had ignored it instead.

Thrown off slightly by Scott's unexpected cheerfulness, Logan had agreed to meet with Xavier right away. That had gone as he expected, with him being offered a place on the team and a position teaching art. Of course, the professor was joking, he was hoping Logan would help Scott with the X-men training program, but classes with the younger students weren't expected. At least not right away.

Once that was settled he found himself following Ororo to his new room. It seemed his old one had a new resident. `Ro opened the door and turned to go, but Logan caught her arm and asked, "Where is she?"

"Who?" Storm replied, not having a clue who Logan could be asking about after being gone for five years.

"Rogue."

A slow smile found its way to Storm's face as she answered, "She's on a mission. She should be back later tonight."

Logan let her go and turned into his room. A mission? So, Marie had become an X-man after all. Throwing his duffle onto the bed he'd headed down to the garage to enjoy a cigar and maybe a quick ride, and that's where he'd been when she'd come in.

Finishing the cigar and tossing it on the floor next to Scott's bike, he made his decision. He needed to see her. Now.

He walked down the halls following her scent. It was almost exactly how he remembered it, sweet and innocent, but now there was a bit more wildness to it. Like a rose grown in a garden that had been forgotten and left to grow free.

He found himself standing in front of the door to his old room.

He heard her shower running, and without thinking he let himself in and looked around. The room was all Marie. Photographs of friends, most of whom he recognized from his brief time at the mansion, decorated the tops of her dressers and desk. Paintings of far off places hung on the walls.

He'd lost himself in a painting of a snowy landscape that he thought looked familiar when the door to the bathroom opened. When he looked, she was standing in the doorway with her towel wrapped around her and a smile on her face.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"Beautiful."

Marie paused a moment, not exactly knowing how to take his answer. Surely he'd been referring to the painting, but he hadn't taken his eyes off of her.

"I'm glad you're back. You know, you could have sent me a letter or something," she teased.

Now Logan turned back to the painting. After a moment he finally spoke. "I couldn't Marie. I didn't know what to write. I couldn't imagine why you would save yourself for someone like me."

"Logan, I couldn't imagine anyone else." Marie couldn't believe it. He'd all but said that he had feelings for her. She could barely hold herself back from throwing herself into his arms, but she needed to hear more, to be sure what he was saying and what she was hearing were the same things.

At her words he looked over to her. Was she really saying that she felt the same way he did? Sure, Jean had told him she thought Marie was taken with him, but he hadn't really believed her. No one as pure and untainted as her could possibly be interested in someone like him, could they? The look in her eyes and the scent coming off of her told him that she just might be.

Being more of a man of action than words, Logan leaned down and pressed his lips to hers until he felt her mutation begin. Pulling back a little winded he looked at her face and was startled by what he saw. She was crying.

Between her tears, Marie whispered, "Oh Logan, I feel the same way. I love you too."

Logan smiled the first true smile Marie had ever seen on him, and then he scooped her up and carried her to her bed. He tucked her under the covers and lay down beside her. Brushing her hair back, in a gentle voice he told her everything that had happened to him while he'd been gone. How he'd ended up back in Laughlin City and had thought of her. He hadn't found anything about what Stryker had done to him, so he'd finally given up and gotten back into the cage fighting circuit. He told her all about the small cabin in western Canada that he'd won in a fight, and asked her if she'd come up with him for a weekend sometime.

She sleepily replied, "I'll go anywhere with you Logan, anywhere you want." Then they both fell asleep snuggled next to each other in her bed.

---

Skin
By Breaking Benjamins

Well I know you don't know the reason,
And its cold, a sign of the season
`Cause you're old, and battered and beaten,
And we'll grow till we hit the ceilin'
Yeah

CHORUS:
Oh we better, get away
Send a letter, bombs away
You're covered in my skin
I couldn't imagine anyone else
Come up for the weekend
I couldn't imagine why you would save yourself

Well it's gone, and it's not returnin',
And your clothes and pictures are burnin'
`Cause you're old, and battered and beaten,
And we'll grow till we hit the ceilin'
Yeah

CHORUS (3x)