I glanced around as I entered the slightly sleazy bar on the outskirts of some small California town outside of LA. To my heightened senses the joint straight up stank, but it was better than that place down by the warehouses. The Bronze was crowded with teenagers, and right then I didn't feel like being reminded of what a pervert I am.

My eyes flashed around the dump again when it hit me that hardly anybody in Willie's even looked human. Great. Mutants made me think about her just as much as teenagers did. I turned to go with a growl rumbling deep in my chest when something small smacked into me.

Blue-grey eyes glared up into mine, surrounded by a halo of dyed blonde hair. "Excuse me."

My eyebrows shot up. The tiny little thing should have landed on her cute little ass as fast as she had been moving. I shook my head slowly and stepped aside. "You sure ya wanna go in there, girl?"

She was dressed in a very fashionable outfit. One I couldn't help but picture my little Rogue in. Pale blue tank top and white capri pants with a pair of blue platform sandals that matched the tank top.

"I know what I'm doing, thanks," the blonde girl drawled as she walked past him. "Oh, Willie! We need to talk."

The human-looking guy behind the bar gulped and moved back as the girl walked closer. "Ah, come on, Slayer. You keep busting in here...it's bad for business, ya know?"

"They aren't my problem," the girl called Slayer said as she jerked her head toward the variously horned, scaled, or spiked people behind her. "I want to know who the new bigwig is crashed out at Angel's mansion. Spike isn't staying there and he can't get near the place. Now, you can tell me or I'll do something that will really be bad for business. Like putting you in traction."

"I don't know who it is," Willie whined. "I swear!"

"Wrong answer," Slayer snapped as she reached across the bar and sent Willie flying across the room.

I grunted. The girl was stronger than she looked. I wondered if she was a mutant, too. And just what about Sunnydale made so many mutants hang out there?

"Now that hurts!" Willie complained from where he'd landed on the floor. "I'm telling you the..."

"Lie to me one more time and hello intensive care," Slayer said lightly as she walked toward the greasy little snitch.

"Okay, okay," Willie protested as he raised his hands to ward off the blonde's raised fist. "I heard it was Darla, but Angel dusted her already, right?"

The blonde scowled. "Darla? No way."

"That's what I heard! I don't know anything else!"

"Fine, but if you're lying to me, Willie, I'll come back."

I was still standing in the door watching her in amusement as she stalked out past me.

---

I don't know why I followed the kid, but something about this place just felt off and I'd picked up a nasty case of nobility from somewhere. I wasn't about to let this girl, no matter how strong she was, wander around the streets at night. I couldn't do it anymore than I could have left Rogue out in the middle of Canada's version of nowhere. I wondered for a moment when exactly, I'd gone soft in the head. About three seconds after I looked into Marie's eyes the first time.

I sure as hell wasn't expecting to get attacked myself. The guy wasn't all the tough and went flying easily once I laid hands on him. I didn't pay much attention to the fact that the girl was running back toward me, because the guy's face had shifted. It sparked something in that hunk of swiss cheese that's supposed to be my mind. The animal part of my mind screamed to kill it while the human part was screaming monster. I figured that for one of the rare moments of agreement between me and myself, so the claws came out.

*SNICK!*

The idiot, whatever he was, still came charging back at me, but one quick backhanded swipe put an end to that. I coughed at the sudden explosion of dust that smelled familiar too. Human ashes.

"Well, that's new," the girl said as she stopped jogging toward me.

"That was a vampire," I said slowly as the disjointed memory came again. "I cut his head off and he turned into dust. A vampire."

"We have a lot of those around here. And you are?" she asked. Cautiously, she stayed out of what she figured my reach was.

"A mutant." I looked over at her slowly. "Now, I've been running around with people using silly codenames recently, and Slayer don't sound like nothing a parent would stick their kid with, so who are you?"

"Buffy," she said without missing a beat. "What's your name?"

"Logan," I grunted. Who the hell named their kid 'Buffy'?

She shook her head. "Okay, Logan the Mutant, you might as well come back to Giles' with me. He's been muttering about a prophesy about claws of unearthly metal, and the end of the world. Again."

"No way," I growled. "I don't do saving the world."

Buffy scowled at me. "World savage is my job. But if you're the 'claws of unearthly metal' guy, this time you have to help out. Or would you rather have the world sucked down into eternal Hell?"

"Lead the way, Buffy," I said shaking my head.

---

This Giles guy turned out to be a middle-aged Brit with a condo in a decent part of town. The place smelled like old tea leaves and even older books. There was a faint scent of incense that lingered in the air, too.

The place obviously belonged to the guy Buffy called her Watcher, but there was a group of kids about Buffy's age sprawled around the place, a young man a few years older, and...

A vampire.

The Billy Idol look-a-like took one look at my ugly mug and tried to hightail it out of there. My foot in his gut stopped him. Sent him sliding across the floor and into an overfilled bookcase. I stalked over and yanked the skinny bloodsucker to his feet by the front of his black tee-shirt. "From that little display of yours, I'd guess you know me, bleach-boy."

"I had nothing to do with it," he started with his eyes locked on where my knuckles rested just a few inches from his throat. So I pressed them in a little harder. "Okay, so I had something to do with it! But those suits would have killed Drucilla if I didn't get you for them!"

I could feel myself trembling with the urge to just pop my claws. "And Drucilla was another bloodsucker, right?"

"Yeah," he whispered. "Come on, man. Haven't you ever been in love enough to do anything for a girl?"

Marie. Her face, framed by those two white streaks Magneto left in her hair, flashed through my mind. I dropped the little shit with a snarl. "That saved your life, piss. Now who did you turn me over too?"

"They did do a number on your head didn't they?" he muttered as he started to pick himself up off the floor.

My foot caught him in the ribs. Air I knew he didn't need blasted out of his lungs. "Answer the question."

"Suits! A couple of men in business suits," the vampire gasped out. "I don't know who they were! I just drained you near death and traded you for Dru!"

"That's enough," a little redhead said as she wiggled between us. Bright green eyes flashed up at me from a serious little face and I had a flash of what Jean Grey must have looked like as a girl. "Spike can't even fight back, so you just back off, Mr. Grumpy."

"Mr. Grumpy?" I stared down at her and started to smile. "Ain't you just a little scrapper, kid?"

The pink tinge to her skin was one of the cutest things I ever saw. "My name is Willow, not kid."

The others were Xander and his girlfriend Anya, and Buffy's boyfriend, Riley. I settled down and gave Giles my most dangerous look until he started telling me about the prophesy.

"Man without memory, claws of metal unearthly. He who has given his life to save another shall rise from seeming death to strike down the darkest demon and touch his lover's flesh." Giles scowled down at the musty book in his hands. "That's the part that Buffy believes refers to you."

I scowled for a moment turning the words over in my head, when Professor Xavier's mental voice interrupted me. I listened to him then cut loose with a few cusswords I'd bet the kids around me had never heard before. Even the vampire, Spike, looked impressed.

"Sons of bitches took Rogue." My eyes locked on Giles as my claws snapped out unconsciously. "What's the rest of that prophesy? From the beginning."

"Daughter of the New Dawn with Death's Touch," Giles read.

"That's Rogue," I muttered.

He shot me a look but kept reading. "Virgin blood will open the Gate of Hell. Man without memory, claws of metal unearthly. He who has given his life to save another shall rise from seeming death to strike down the darkest demon and touch his lover's flesh. Slayer and Saint shall stand helpless. Half-blood Messenger and Goddess of Thunder guard the fallen pair. The death of the Virgin Daughter will plunge the Earth into the Everdark."
Giles shrugged. "That's all of it."

"We know the Gate of Hell is the Hellmouth," Willow said as her fingers quick-timed it across the laptop's keyboard. "Your friend Rogue is the Daughter. You're the Man without memory, Buffy's the Slayer, but none of that tells us who the Saint, Messenger, or Goddess are."

I couldn't help the dark chuckle that escaped me. "You've never met Storm. Goddess is one way to describe her. Professor Xavier needs Cyclops and Jean to keep an eye on the kids back at the School, so he's sending Ororo out with the X-jet."

"X-jet?" Xander asked as his head popped up from the book he was plowing through.

"Long story, kid," I grumbled. I turned to glare at Giles again. "How long do we have?"

"Twenty-four hours," he answered quickly.

I nodded. "Where's this Hellmouth?"

"But nobody will be there, yet," Riley pointed out without looking up from his book.

"It's a place to start looking for Rogue," I growled.

---

I froze outside the ruins of what turned out to be Sunnydale High School and sniffed. "Something doesn't smell right. There's a vampire in there, and something else. And it ain't human."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Well, that's useful. Wait here."

"Where's she going?" I rumbled as Buffy slipped ahead of our little group and into the shadows.

"Probably to kill whatever it is you smell," Xander said with a shrug. He checked the loads on his M-16 again while he waited for something to happen.

Riley was almost fidgeting. Hell, I could smell how much he wanted to go after Buffy.

"It's all right, guys," Buffy called after a few more seconds. "Come on in."

I stepped in front of the two boys and followed Buffy's slightly fruity perfume into the library. It only took one look at the two new fellas with Buffy to figure out that the bigger one was the vampire. The other one looked human enough, but so did I until my claws snapped out.

"Hey, now, man!" The smaller man ducked behind the vampire. "None of that now! We're here ta help ya out!"

"Buffy?" The vampire glanced at the Slayer and raised his eyebrows.

"It's all right, Logan. This is Angel and," her voice trailed off uncertainly as she regarded the small dark-haired guy with the Irish accent. "Sorry, I don't remember your name."

"Doyle," he said easily, almost like he expected her to forget who he was. "Ya were kinda having a bad day when we meant."

She nodded absently. "This is Xander," the lean boy nodded, "Logan," a smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth as all their eyes shot to my claws, "and Riley. My boyfriend."

"Deadboy," Xander drawled.

"Harris," Angel returned flatly. He shot a sharp glance at Riley and his fatigues.

I grunted softly. No love lost between those two, that was for sure.

"So, yer Xander," Doyle said as he looked the younger man over. "Can't say I'm impressed."

"Not now, Doyle," Angel said.

It was more like one of those quiet almost orders Red-Eye gives out.

I walked around Doyle and sniffed again. "You ain't any more human than the walking stiff over there. What gives?"

He stiffened. "Look who's talking, bud."

I got in his face and growled, half of me expected the vampire to yank me away from the little guy. I didn't expect the kid to turn blue-green and sprout black spines. Annoyed red eyes glared at me as he crossed his arms
across his chest.

"Ya happy now?" he snapped. "I'm half Brachen demon."

I let my claws snap back into my forearms and turned to Buffy. "The Half-Blood Messenger and the Saint."

"Excuse me?" Angel asked.

"Prophesy. The usual," Buffy said as if that explained it. For this bunch I guess it did.

I went and sniffed around the remains of the library. The place stank of sulfur, brimstone, and things I didn't want words to describe. It left the animal in me howling and the man in full agreement. But there was no sign of Rogue. My head came up about the same time as the human looking Brachen's and the vampire's when the X-jet landed in what used to be the school's quad.

"No sign of Rogue in here, and that Goddess we've been waiting on just got here," I growled and pushed passed the others.

I stalked over to the jet and stood silently waiting for Storm to finish shutting it down. She floated down on a puff of wind and we traded a dark, understanding look. When the others get there I growled out the introductions quickly then stalked back toward Giles' place. The little redhead had been right. There was nothing to tell me where they had my Marie...I mean Rogue.

There was no way I could have missed the awestruck look on Giles and Willow's faces when they got a look at Ororo for the first time. I've got to admit that if my attention hadn't been...somewhere else, I'd probably have looked at her like that when we met.

"Vampires, magic, demons and the gates of Hell," Storm sighed after a rapid-fire explanation. She shook it off quickly. "More things in Heaven and Earth, I suppose. The important thing is to rescue Rogue."

"Nothing against yer friend, Stormy," Doyle said as he bent over the diagram Willow had pulled up on the computer, "but I'd say the important thing is saving the world."

"Saving this Rogue girl will accomplish our goal, Mr. Doyle," Giles said sharply. He slanted a look in my direction as my snarl faded. "I suggest we all get some rest. Tomorrow night shall be quite busy."

I swear that was the longest day of my life. I did everything I could think of to clear my head, including a kata I couldn't remember learning, as the sun went down. Willow just sat on the front steps and watched me. I didn't miss the loaded crossbow sitting next to her, or the fact that the point was just sharpened wood with no metal head.

"Been getting vampire attacks here a lot?" I rumbled without looking over at her.

"Forever," she sighed. "But I've only known about them for the last four years. If it weren't for Buffy, well, I'd be dead or worse by now."

"So you learned how to kill them."

"Yep. But mostly I'm Net-Girl, Research-Girl, or Wicca-Girl." I could see the little half smile curving her lips. "I guess that makes me Buffy's sidekick." She paused for a long time as my body moved on automatic pilot through the martial arts routine. "Are you in love with Rogue?"

"She's a kid. Younger than you are," I growled.

"Other than the jail-bait possibilities, I don't see what that has to do with anything."

I didn't answer. Not because I didn't want to. I didn't answer because something was watching us. "Go inside, Willow."

"But..."

"Now." Something in my eyes must have stopped her from arguing anymore, because she turned and ran into the condo.

"You always did have a way with little girls, Logan," purred a voice that I almost recognized.

"Where's Rogue, bloodsucker?"

"You won't be able to stop this, animal-man," the blonde vampiress taunted. "This time, Hell shall have dominion over the Earth."

"Darla," Angel hissed from the door.

She smiled sweetly. "Did you miss me, Angelus? Did you know turning to dust hurts?"

"Where's the girl, Darla?" he growled as his game face rippled into place.

"When the Devil's hour strikes, my boy," she teased as she vanished into the shadows. "Not a moment before."

"Midnight," I rumbled as my claws snapped out. The time for keeping calm was over. In three hours I was going to be cutting and slashing my way to Rogue's side. And nothing was going to keep me away from my Marie.

---

"I don't like this, bud," Doyle muttered under his breath.

"Not looking forward to this myself," I growled just loud enough for him to hear me. "You ready, Storm?"

I'm glad she was, cause I sure as hell wasn't. The bastards and the vampire bitch had crucified Marie. I saw red, the color that was sliding down Marie's ivory-white arms and dripping on the floor. Everything between me and what was mine died.

Looking back I can hear Buffy and Angel yelling for me to stop, but the animal in me had control, and I wasn't fighting it.

I got Marie down while Storm hurled lightning at anything that managed to avoid getting caught in my path. She was so still with her eyes closed, barely breathing. Two times before my mutant healing ability saved her life, I prayed to whoever looked out for mutant misfits that it would work again. Even if it killed me. I didn't take the time to pull off one of my gloves.

I did what I had wanted to do back on the Statue of Liberty. This time I kissed her. Her body moved against me and I held her tighter, urging her to take more of me into her. I ignored the Hellmouth opening behind me. I ignored Buffy and Angel's yelling as part of what was left of the roof collapsed, cutting them off from us. I ignored it, then I couldn't hear it as Rogue pushed me away.

"Oh, Logan," she whispered as oblivion came up and dragged me back down with it. The last thing I heard was her snarl and the sound of claws ripping from between her knuckles.

---

Willow was patching me up when I came around. Someone had carried me in to Giles' bedroom and from down stairs I could hear something vaguely familiar playing.

"What's that?" I mumbled.

"Strange Brew," Willow said as she gave up trying to get me to stay in bed. "Rogue found Giles' record collection -- she's been playing that for the last three hours."

"We won?" I asked as she handed me a shirt. Mine had gotten shredded during the fight.

"Well, since we're all alive and there aren't any more demons running around here than normal...Yes. We won." Willow eyed my healing wounds critically. "Are you sure you should be..."

"I'm fine," I growled as I walked out on her. I just wanted to see Marie.

No one was in the living room but Xander, Anya, and Giles. I'm not sure when they got lost, but by the time I reached Marie they were gone. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her against my chest, burying my face in her hair. Her arms went around my waist and stayed there until Storm made a small sound by the door.

"It is time to go, Rogue," she said gently.

My arms tightened around the woman in my arms. "No, it ain't."

"Logan," Storm started to reprimand me.

"She ain't going back. When I left, I expected you geeks to take care of my girl, and she gets kidnapped by a bunch of vampires," I snapped. "How the Hell did they get in the mansion anyway? They have to be invited in, damnit!"

"Logan," Marie called softly. Soft gloved fingers forced my eyes to meet hers. "I was outside."

I knew I was breathing hard out of anger, but looking down at her it all faded away. "Stay with me," I whispered, carefully running a hand through her hair.

Storm sighed as she caught the look on Marie's face. "Very well. I will tell the Professor that you are safe. I take it you both plan on returning to the School sometime in the future?"

"Someday," Marie said with a small smile.

That's how I wound up with my bike heading east with a passenger's arms wrapped around my waist.

And I wouldn't change a damned thing.