I get to the machine and cut her loose. She just hangs there, hands glued, so I pry her off.

Still nothing.

God, no. Not after I swore that I'd take care of her… My hands idly play with the white stands of hair that now frame her face, as I pull her into my arms, taking off my glove with my teeth, and placing it to her face, hoping to God, which is something I don't do to often, for a sign of any kind.

Still, as before, not a damn thing.

No, no, no!! Still I hold her, giving her the one thing she wanted most, and only in death, got.

Human touch.

A tear or two falls as I think of the promise I broke. Marie, I… wait… What the hell? I feel a pull, a very small tingle. "Oh my…" runs through my mind as the damage that I inflicted on myself to get free, and what Sabretooth did reopen and begin to freely bleed. I don't think I've been as happy to be wounded, then I am now. Because it all, the blood, the pain, means she's alive and that I kept my promise.

Marie gives a strangled gasp as she comes back to life and freezes in my arms. I don't think I've heard a more beautiful sound. She struggles for a minute and pushes me away, her face a mask of shock and terror.

I fall to the ground, burning her face and the fact that she's alive into my memory. If I die, I more then willingly do so, and take the fact that she's alive because of me, to my grave. That alone makes it, all of it, worth it.

The End