you were my modulation
and that's what you will always be
we took each other higher
we set each other free

---

Marriage was kind of annoying sometimes.

Rogue had become so used to independence and fending for herself and making her own decisions that compromise was a skill she didn't really possess. And though she loved Bobby, sometimes she wanted to kick his ass.

Like, for instance, now.

"I'm really not comfortable with this, Rogue," he said. Again.

Rogue sighed, tugging angrily at her belt. "I'm not gonna jump him, Bobby. You're being ridiculous."

His face darkened. "I'm not being ridiculous. You nearly left me for him."

The unending argument. Rogue groaned. It'd taken them a good year to get back to okay after her stupid trip to Iowa, and even after two years of marriage, Bobby was still angry about it. She was getting very tired of having this same fight. "I didn't nearly leave you. I told you I needed to put that..." She waved an impatient hand, looking for a word to describe the thing between she and Logan that wouldn't leave Bobby infuriated.

"Relationship," Bobby suggested stonily.

"Whatever," Rogue continued, hoping they could breeze right past that. "I needed to put it to rest. *You* called things off with us."

"Gee, I can't imagine why," Bobby shot back, leaning back against the door to their room, arms crossed. "I propose to you and you go running off to Iowa to visit your first love."

"That was *four years* ago, and we're married, Bobby." Rogue flopped onto their bed, bone-weary of this. "Can't we just pretend we've already had this fight -- *again* -- and get going?"

"At least let me go with you," Bobby answered after a long pause. She was pleasantly surprised that he'd gone along with her suggestion. This was the last phase of the argument, and he'd skipped over the really upsetting parts. Like the part where he accused her of still having a thing for Logan, and then suggested maybe she would've been better off not marrying him.

That part really pissed her off, and usually led to a day or two of coldness until one or the other of them broke and apologized.

She wondered why today Bobby was willing to skip past suggesting that she'd be happier with Logan -- could it be because she'd be seeing him an hour? Rogue knew Bobby's anger was a result of his insecurities, but that didn't make it any easier to deal with when he was being an idiot.

Like now, for instance, suggesting he should accompany her. "You hate him and he's probably not your biggest fan, Bobby," Rogue pointed out tiredly. "That's a bad idea."

"The whole thing's a bad idea," he grumbled, finally moving toward her.

"You're on call here," Rogue pointed out reasonably. "Someone has to stay here with the children. It's going to be fine, Bobby."

He sat gingerly on the edge of the bed. "I just--" He shrugged. "I worry."

Rogue reached up and tugged on his arm, pulling him half on top of her. "I love you," she told him, hooking a calf around his thigh. "You know this. Don't be an idiot."

Bobby's anger shattered and he was laughing, his forehead against her shoulder. "Gee, with that kind of reassurance..."

Smiling, she slid a lingering hand across his hip until he groaned into her neck. "I don't have time for different kinds of reassurances," she pointed out, her voice low and sultry.

With a low chuckle, Bobby licked her neck, timing it just right to avoid her mutation. He'd grown really, really good at learning just how long he could touch her, and Rogue was always willing to aide him in his experiments. She shifted below him, her hands gentle on his body, holding him close.

Bobby pushed himself up onto his elbows and stared down at her with such love. "I just don't want to lose you."

She reached up, caressing his cheek. "You're not going to. I promise." Then she planted her hands on his shoulders and pushed. "Now let's go."

Bobby heaved an exaggerated sigh and stood, pulling her up after him. He followed her down to the hangar and kissed her goodbye, lingering until she got a tingling hint of his thoughts. Of his love. Smiling, Rogue gave him a little wave and took her seat in the jet, trying to blank out her thoughts. Everything she'd told Bobby was absolutely true, but she that didn't mean she wasn't incredibly nervous to see Logan again.

She'd never, ever expected him to show up at her wedding to ask her to run away with him. Not that he'd actually *asked* her that, but she knew him well enough to read his intentions. But life wasn't a poorly scripted romantic comedy, and she'd long since cut her losses where he was concerned. Rogue loved her husband and she didn't regret marrying him -- even when he was being an insecure idiot -- but it had broken her heart to see the devastated look on Logan's face when she turned and walked away from him.

The reason for that look still had the capacity to shock her. She'd understood, somehow, that he wanted her. She was a woman, and he was hardly a monk, so that hadn't been *that* shocking. Gratifying? Yes. Kind of a turn on? Absolutely. But to realize that Logan really did love her... She shook her head. *That* was shocking. Too bad he took two years too long to figure it out.

And now they were flying to Nashville on his tip, trying to rescue a couple of mutants that Logan had tracked to a heavily guarded governmental facility. He'd planned to go in alone, contacting the professor only as backup -- in case he didn't come out.

Idiotic man. Thankfully the professor had managed to convince Logan to wait 12 hours for the X-Men to suit up and fly down.

They touched down in a pasture about ten miles from the facility, and her breath lodged in her throat when she saw him there. Waiting. In worn jeans and a leather jacket, arms crossed, expression eerily blank. It was so much like when she got off that train in Iowa that, for a moment, she didn't feel married and she certainly didn't feel over him.

Running her thumb over the reassuring lump of her wedding ring under her glove, Rogue rose a little unsteadily and followed Jubilee down the gangplank. They emerged into the hazy evening sky and Logan's gaze moved immediately to Rogue, who was staring right back at him.

"Logan," she greeted. She was pretty damn proud of herself for sounding so unaffected by his presence. Of course, he was one of the few people who knew her well enough to see past that, but she'd take her victories where she could. At least Jubes would be able to report to Bobby truthfully that Rogue hadn't swooned at the mere sight of Logan.

Speaking of whom -- Logan didn't answer her, shifting his gaze to Scott, who appeared at Rogue's side. "I'll drive us to within a half-mile, then it's ground entry."

Scott nodded sharply, and they set off, piled into Logan's grimy truck. Rogue sat in the truck bed and tried not to stare at the back of his head as he and Scott conversed tersely in the cab. She fiddled with her ponytail, anchoring it more securely.

Storm lightly touched Rogue's arm, but when she glanced over, Storm's placid gaze was fixed on the scenery around them.

"I'm okay," Rogue murmured, thankful for the gesture. She wondered, again, whether Logan could ever have come to see her as an adult, as an equal, like the rest of the older X-Men if he'd just stuck around. Rogue had friendly relationships with Scott and Ororo, and even the professor didn't intimidate her quite as much as he once did. Maybe if Logan had stayed...

It was a pointless exercise; Logan had run -- again -- and whatever possibilities they'd had between them had long since been extinguished.

Storm's fingers tightened briefly on Rogue's wrist, then she withdrew her hand.

The mission went pretty well. No casualties, and only a couple minor injuries, plus they'd managed to get three teenaged mutants out of the custody of the government. When they piled out of Logan's truck at the jet, Rogue noticed blood drying on his slashed jeans. A lot of blood.

She moved toward him, trying not to be hurt when he tensed at her approach. "I'm fine," he bit out, anticipating her question. His hazel eyes were distant, focusing stubbornly on the jet behind her.

Rogue blew out an exasperated sigh. "I know that," she said. "You heal. But it still hurts." Her gaze drifted down to the drying blood. "It must hurt *a lot* when you're that badly injured."

He glanced at her, his expression closed off. "Yeah." His eyes narrowed and he turned to face her fully. "You're hurt."

Tilting her head to one side, Rogue let him see the bruises blossoming on her neck. "No big deal, Logan. I can control it now." She shrugged, a small smile playing on her lips, "A little, anyway. When he tried strangling me, I opened it up full throttle and knocked him out." She could still feel the burning anger, the aftertaste of the soldier, but she'd gotten a lot better at dealing with that over the years.

Logan moved swiftly, closing the distance between them to study her face. "You used your mutation?"

She shrugged off his concern. "Seemed like the only option, yeah."

"Fuck," Logan ground out, turning away from her, his hands fisted at his sides. He looked like he wanted nothing more than to unleash the claws and destroy something.

Rogue told herself not to get irritated with him. "Logan--"

He whirled on her. "I *told* Scott not to bring you."

Stung, Rogue crossed her arms defensively. "Gee, thanks. I feel so valued." Logan jerked his head around to glare at her, and she knew she'd said exactly the wrong thing. It was pretty obvious that their relationship was long past saving, but that didn't stop her from trying. "Logan--"

"Go home, Rogue," he ordered, his tone flat and expressionless.

Wow, was this a really bad fucking idea, she thought bitterly. "Good to see you, too, Logan," she said. "I see absence really *doesn't* make the heart grow fonder."

She took two steps before she felt his hand on her shoulder, spinning her around to face him. And when she looked at him, she could see the man from the hallway, the man who loved her, and it killed any recriminations she'd been about to shout at him.

Logan glanced down, then took a short, unsteady breath. "You're happy?"

The question was so unexpected, so... strange, that Rogue nodded before she had a chance to wonder why he'd asked.

"Right," he said, as if she'd confirmed something he'd only suspected. When he looked at her again, he forced a smile. It was crooked. "Good."

"Rogue," Jubilee yelled from the foot of the gangplank. "Let's get a move on."

"I'll be right there," she called back, reaching for Logan's sleeve as he began to move away. "Wait." He froze under her touch. "Logan..." She didn't know how to say it, not with the way he was looking at her. So she shrugged and said, "I miss you."

Inhaling sharply, Logan pulled his arm away. "Don't," he told her. "I can't do this, Marie."

Being an adult really sucked, Rogue thought. They'd both made their choices, and now they had to live with them. She let her hand drop to her side. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean -- I just wanted to see you. Make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine," he repeated again, all of the emotion drained from his voice. His eyes were distant. "Go home."

So she did.

THE END