They had locked eyes, exchanging glances, eyes softened when met with the others. In the man's eyes the young woman saw encouragement covering years of pain and confusion. In the girl's eyes the man saw despair with newfound hope covering a beautiful past with a hard corner leading to a darker future.

They were on a train. The young woman with brown hair and eyes was covering almost every inch of herself with a green cloak. The man with darker brown eyes and wild hair was sitting next to her by the aisle, his arm comfortingly around her.

She looked up at his gruff face, noticing a foreign smile. It was hard to think the Wolverine could smile, or had anything to smile about. He didn't and she knew it.

Marie could hear the voices, could see the uniforms that seemed almost alien, feel the syringes and knives, the markers drawing lines all over her body, and even the surprising feeling when her adamantium claws slid out from her knuckles.

She had stolen his memories.

Marie wondered how the people she touched felt, wondered if they received a piece of her in return for the piece she stole from them. She turned back to Logan who was smiling like nothing else mattered.

Logan knew the girl had taken more from him than his powers. He could see the memories, appearing as flashes in his nightmares, being sucked out of his skin and into her fingers that night. That night felt like a year ago... and it was just a few hours ago.

And he didn't care. She was still his Marie, he would do anything for her. He never wanted her to know about the pains that tortured him in the night, and that would torture her now. He never wanted to see hurt, ever. The idea that he hurt her physically, or in any other way, made him want to stab himself.

Logan wanted to bring her back to the school, wanted her to get her schooling out of the way. Wanted her to stay with him. Didn't want her to leave his side. She had just met him and already they were like family. "Come on. I'll take care of you." If she had said 'no', that she wanted to run from the X-Men, wanted to be on the run again that would be fine. He'd go with her of course, just to look out for her.

Marie just sat there, thinking. No one had ever wanted to protect, no one gave a damn about a girl with poison skin. She admired him for it.

"You promise?" She asked, flashing him a smile, forgetting her tear stained cheeks.

Logan wanted to sweep her off her feet and do whatever she wanted to make her happy. The smile gave him hope. Without hesitation, "Yeah, I promise."

It was a promise he would not break.