"The magician Merlin had strange laugh,
and it was heard when nobody else was laughing.....
He laughed because he knew what was coming next."

-Robertson Davies

---

The sky was an eerie black, devoid of starts and the thundering lightning that had been flashing only moments before. An unearthly calm surrounded the two, nary a caress of wind of moonlight on their skin.

He stared down at her. Saw the pale, lifeless face, the gleaming, limp hair and blinked.

His eyes shut for a mere second, but it was enough.

//She fell, a contented smile on her face. The shard dropped from her hand.//

//The room smelled of sweat, sex, and another man.//

//She was laying in a puddle of blood, her own blood.//

//He leaned down, "I love you."//

//"Darlin' where are you?"//

//"LET GO OF US!" My hands were a noose as I screamed at her. "LET GO NOW!"//

//"Baby please!!!" I can't feel my legs. I'm falling. I'm on my knees. "I promise, I'll protect you this time! I LOVE YOU!" Her eye's are dripping, and I can almost feel the salty drops across my cheeks.//

//What.....why is there blood on my hands?//

//Eerie, soundless stares.//

//Nothing left.//

Logan blinked, and in that second, that terrifying, alarming second what could be flashed through his mind. He could lose Marie, lose the girl who had become everything to him.

He stared once again at the ashen Marie in his arms and he reached out, his bare hand pressing against her naked cheek.

Nothing happened.

Anguish filled his eyes. He couldn't save her, she was too far gone.

He couldn't change the future, couldn't tell Marie how he truly felt about her.

He felt tears welling up, but he blinked them back, he couldn't cry.

The Wolverine didn't cry.

Although the possible future he'd just seen suggested otherwise.

His stubbled, sweaty cheek moved forward and he embraced the limp body before him. He cradled her body gently, pressing his lips against her soft forehead.

Nothing happened.

His eyes closed, his arms bands of steel as he pressed their faces together.

He would never get a chance to alter the future. Never tell Marie that he loved her, and not Jean. Never live up to his promise of protection.

Then he felt it, a tug, a pull.

Marie's powers reactivating.

Logan's arms pulled her closer, his eyes popping open as a blanket of pain shrouded his body.

He could feel his wounds reopening, tearing his back and his face.

He could feel gasps from himself, and from Marie.

Her head lifted and she stared at him.

She was alive, she was okay.

He finally let go, the excruciating pain overwhelming him as Marie pushed him away.

He fell, his body thumping, Maria gazing down at him with a look of agony and gratitude.

He managed a tiny smile, more of grimace, before his vision grew black.

He was in so much pain, so much.

It didn't matter.

Marie was okay, that mattered.

He'd tell her everything when he woke up.

When he....woke.....up.