Logan had imagined a lot of different 'returning-home' scenarios - he would walk through the door and Marie would fling herself into his arms. He would find her waiting outside, somehow knowing precisely when he would show up. He would return at night and find Marie asleep in his room, the blanket halfway on the floor, exposing lots of pale, soft skin, and he would slowly inch off the blanket and---damn. He did not need that mental image. His imagination was already working overtime as it was.

He had imagined just about every single possible scenario, but things - as usual - did not turn out as expected.

Yes, Marie did fling herself into his arms, but instead of chatting happily with him and drag him off to see Chuck, she hugged him tightly and moved her toxic lips dangerously close to his ear.

"Cut yer chat with the X-geeks short, sugar. I really need to talk to ya," she whispered and quickly let go when Jean and Scott approached them.

Unseen by the X-team, Logan sent Rogue a slightly confused look but the girl just shook her head slightly, meaning 'not here'.

Logan really wanted to know what the hell was going on, but figured she would tell him soon enough. Instead, he just nodded and let himself be dragged off by Jean and tried to ignore the redhead's many questions.

He looked back but saw that Rogue had already disappeared. He blinked slowly and shook his head in bewilderment.

Just what the fuck was going on?

---

It took almost an hour before the X-geeks were finally done with their questions - Did he find anything? What did he find? Who had done it? What was his real name? How old was he? Were there any other mutants at the facility?

Logan, though, was not about to tell them everything and instead he answered evasively or flat-out lied. A few times, he tried to ask them about Marie, but they would just continue their questions as if he hadn't said anything.

After a while, Xavier seemed to realize that Logan had no intentions of revealing anything just yet, and just told him that they, the X-Men, were here if he ever wanted to talk. Logan put on a fake half-smile and nodded and had just wanted to get the hell out of there and find Marie.

Then Xavier and Jean gave their 'Join the X-Men'-speech and Logan had wanted to kill something. He had no intentions of joining up with the super-geeks, damnit! He was just there for Marie! He didn't say that out loud, though. He had the feeling that if he did, it would take even longer before he got out of there.

That was not a cheery prospect.

So he just said some shit about wanting to think it over, and then got the hell outta there before they thought up any more propaganda they wanted him to hear.

Damn! Were they that annoying the last time he was there?

Logan shook his head to clear his thoughts, then went off to find Marie. It was about time someone gave him an explanation.

---

"Guess ya wanna know what's goin' on?" Rogue said when Logan found her on the rooftop.

He just nodded and Rogue sighed.

"Sit down, sugar. Make yerself comfortable. I think we're gonna be here for a while," she said and watched as Logan sat down next to her. He impatiently waited for her to speak, but she remained silent.

"Ya wanna tell me what the fuck happened while I was away?" Logan finally asked.

Rogue sent him a slight smile.

"Still Mr. Politeness, I see."

Logan just glared at her and she sighed again.

"Well...the short version is that A) the X-Men lied to me, B) I have Erik - Magneto - in my head an' C) he can teach me how to touch if I can help 'im escape from prison," Rogue explained and counted off on her gloved fingers.

Logan held out his hands.

"Wait, wait, wait! Slow down. The geeks did what?!" he demanded.

"They lied to me. Told me that they hadn't known I existed until they met us in Canada," Rogue explained. "Erik told me otherwise. They had known my exact location for months."

Logan turned his head and looked at her in disbelief.

"Yer tellin' me that ya actually trust buckethead?! Marie, the guy killed ya!"

Rogue winced slightly at the memory and Logan felt a pang of guilt. Shit. The last thing he wanted was to hurt Marie. He took a deep breath to calm himself down before he continued.

"Shit. Listen, Marie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to brin' up any painful memories, but I just don't wanna see ya get hurt. How...how do ya even know ya can trust him?"

Rogue tapped lightly on her head.

"I have 'im up here, remember? I have the both of ya up here, actually. I have his memories, Logan. He can't lie to me."

"Oh, shit," Logan muttered. Things were going way too fast for him right now. He shook his head to clear his mind, then tried to form a suitably reply. "Listen, darlin', do ya...have ya even considered what yer suggestin'? Have yer even thought about the consequences?"

Rogue sent him a serious look.

"Actually, sugar, I have. I've thought long and hard about it."

"Then ya also know that the X-Men would kick ya outta here the moment they found out what ya had done."

"Maybe. Maybe not," Rogue said and shrugged. "They think I'm too dangerous to let loose. That's why they even bothered to bring me here in the first place."

"Ya don't know that for sure," Logan replied.

Rogue arched an eyebrow.

"Really? Look around ya, Logan. How many of the students here don't have dangerous powers?"

Logan looked down at the lawn below them, where a lot of the kids were enjoying the sun. He recognized a few of them from the first time he was there - the Ice-hole who'd been interested in his Marie. The Flame-head. The kid who could walk through walls.

Logan frowned, and looked more closely. A girl in a yellow jacket was firing some sort of sparks from her fingertip, apparently trying to hit a boy who was defending himself with glowing, exploding cards. A blue-furred kid disappeared in a cloud of smoke and reappeared between two girls.

Logan turned to Rogue, who merely sent him a inquiring look.

"Well?" she asked.

Logan's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

"Go on," he said.

Rogue nodded at the lawn.

"Not all mutants have as spectacular a power as the kids on this school do. Actually, it's pretty damn rare to have any sort of 'useful' power like Cyke or Storm or us. Most mutants either have some relatively weak powers or just look differently. How many of those do ya see here?"

Logan didn't answer. He didn't have to.

"Thought so," Rogue said satisfied.

She paused for a moment before she continued.

"The X-Men don't care about me. They care about my powers an' my potential an' the fact that I might join the enemy if I was left on my own. But they don't care about me."

Logan looked at her for a long time, feeling the first little pieces of the puzzle fall into place.

"An' the geeks don't know a way to control yer skin?"

Rogue shrugged.

"Maybe they do. But if that's the case, they don't intent to tell me. The Professor and Jean told me that I would probably never be able to touch anyone again - ever."

"But buckethead is willing to teach ya," Logan summarized.

"Yeah."

Logan raised an eyebrow.

"Sound to me like ya have already made yer decision."

"I have," Rogue admitted.

Logan sighed.

"An' where'd ya plan to go if the geeks did kick ya out?" he asked. "Ya plannin' to hit the road again? Bad idea, darlin'."

Rogue looked down and chewed nervously on her lower lip.

"Actually...I was kinda hopin' I could leave with ya," she admitted.

Logan raised an eyebrow and barely managed to stop himself from doing a victory-dance. She wanted to be with him. It wasn't a declaration of heartfelt love, but it was definitely a beginning.

"An' what makes ya think I'm gonna leave?"

Rogue tapped lightly on her head again.

"Yer up here, too, remember? I know ya, Logan. Yer don't like to stay in one place for too long. 'Sides, yer just as annoyed with the X-Men as I am."

She shook her head, still refusing to meet his eyes.

"Please, Logan. I can't do this alone."

Logan remained silent for a long moment, just thinking everything through. Then he reached out and lifted her chin gently with a gloved hand, forcing her to meet his eyes. Rogue's eyes widened slightly and Logan saw her very soul reflected in the depths of those deep brown lakes. Determination, hope, annoyance, resignation and beneath it all, a desperate longing for something - someone - she'd feared would never return.

Logan smiled slightly and stroked her cheek with his thumb. He could smell the faint scent of anticipation on her as he draped her thin scarf across the lower half of her face.

Then he leaned down and kissed her.

Even through the scarf, her lips were as soft as he'd imagined. He pulled her closer and Rogue moaned and opened her mouth to allow him access. Their tongues locked in an intimate dance, mimicking the way their bodies longed to be joined. Logan put his hands on her hips and moved his fingers around in small, teasing circles, each time getting just a little bit closer to the junction of her legs. Rogue whimpered and their kiss deepened. The smell of arousal hung heavy in the air and Logan felt his body harden in response.

Shit.

Logan pulled back.

Control. He had to control himself.

The Wolverine would have ravished Marie right there on the roof, but -tempting as it was - Logan was not going to do that. They were in a public place - the door to the roof was unlocked and they could easily be seen from the ground. They could be discovered any moment and that was not a chance they could afford to take.

Logan looked at Rogue's flushed face and read the question in her eyes.

"If Scooter or Jeannie showed up now, we would have one hell of a problem explainin' what we were doin'," he whispered and ran his fingers through her silky hair.

Rogue's eyes widened slightly and she mouthed an 'oh'.

Logan continued to stroke her hair and smiled as she leaned into his touch. They remained like that for a long time, both wondering about the past and the present, considering their future, thinking everything through until they had every possible option, every possible consequence mapped out in their minds. Neither spoke until they knew every risk they might or might not have to take, until they knew exactly what consequences their choice would have.

"Logan?" Rogue finally asked and looked at him.

Logan knew the meaning of the question. He stroked her white streaks and thought about the previous months. He'd been at the brink of destruction and she'd brought him back. Her reaction to their kiss had shown him that she needed him as much as he needed her. She had told him her innermost secrets - her name, her past, her true self -and put her life in his hands. She trusted him.

She was his future. And he wasn't going to lose her.

He looked into her eyes and made his choice.

"Let's do it."