The bar quieted as the door burst open bringing with it the biting winter wind and yet another abrasive stranger. After the patrons of the bar eyed the man's stance, judging his intent and showing theirs the atmosphere lightened as much as it would in a place like this and the noise started up again. This little bar was the last stop for a drink before heading off into the cold wilderness. Not that this place was exactly inviting, but that's the way Logan like it.

In a place like this you could just be accepted and then promptly ignored. Here there were no friends asking him questions he could not answer, it was a welcomed change. Nobody here expected anything from him so he had nothing to live up to he could just be. It was a nice relief from the burden he was carrying however temporary.

This place also afford Logan another relief from it all, each bottle contained a little peace of mind. So he ordered him up a glass of whatever was "the quickest." Logan blanched when the bar tender handed him the blood red liquid.

"Its all that's left," The old man mumbled tilting his head in the direction of the twenty very drunk very loud men in the corner of the room.

"Great," Logan spat out, grimacing at his own desperation for this release that he would take anything, even this weak elixir that his gift would quickly spit out of his system. Damn, his body that healed him of everything, even this sweet release. Still Logan wasn't one to give up so easily, no matter how fleeting the experience was. So he rose his glass and toasted in honor of the ghosts that followed him everywhere.

"See you all soon."

Red, red wine
Go to my head
Make me forget that I…

Make me forget it all he pleaded to his reflection at the bottom of the glass and he let the image drown in the blood red liquid that took its place. He wasn't gone enough yet he could still feel his frustration at his fruitless mission to discover his past, the pain of Jean's death, and the image of those pleading eyes. So he began again letting the bittersweet wine slid across his tongue and bite at his throat.

Red, red wine
Go to my head
Make me forget that I
Still need her so

This mind wandered to the one topic he ha been hoping to avoid. Her. Her smell that gave her away in an instant, the last touch of her arms that lingered too long, and that look in her eyes suggesting to him that he was killing her. Those eyes that always told him everything, that hinted and screamed things to him, things that he could not explore further. Things he could never have. Things he would never dare to hope for.

And with one more glass of wine he was willing to admit that this was his main reason for running, no matter what line he gave to her that night before he fled. In her eyes he could see that she understood this and…

He could always read the emotions in her eyes; he could always read her like a book. But there was something in her eyes that he had never seen there before. That look haunted him.

Red, red wine
It's up to you
All I can do I've done
But the memories won't go

No! No! He was here to forget, not to think… That was all he had been doing the past months. Long after he had given up on his past. Thinking, a foolish ability only man was given to possess.

He rubbed at his eyes pleading with them to allow him this one wish but…

…No the memories won't go…

She smiled softly beside him her laugh was quietly disapproving. "This is not the way, Logan. Do you really believe that I can be forgotten this easily?" He kept his eyes to his cup not daring to look, afraid at what he would find. She laughed again running her fingers along the rim of the glass filling it up with her own blood.

I'd had sworn
That with time
Thoughts of you
Would leave my mind…

"No Rogue, I never did. I had hoped, but I never really believed." And with that her laughter died.

…I was wrong…

With one more gulp of liquid courage Logan found his again letting his eyes meet those of the ghost that haunted his every step. Her eyes held that same look, that one look whose meaning eluded him. And as his body began to heal his distempered mind she began to fade, her hand reaching towards him and stopping before it reached his jacket. Her fading glance stared at her hand quickly pulling it back. In her space she left one last bit of confidence, "If only you were that easy to forget, Logan."

And I find
Just one thing
Helps me forget

Memories surged back into his mind of that day, of her arms around him, her hand that pulled back slightly. Logan's heart stopped as he reached his hand back into his pocket finding the gift she had quietly given back to him. The last words of his ghost lingered in his ear.

Red, red wine
Stay close to me
Don't let me be alone
It's tearing apart…

Those words she had given him the answer his mind had not, to the question that plagued his mind. To the meaning of her last look. She was giving up on him. She was beginning to forget.

…My blue, blue heart…

He then understood what he was too dense to get…All those dreams that Rogue's eyes had revealed to him…All the hope she had for him…Had been all that was keeping him sane…For they had become his. He had been a fool running away from those dreams, fearing their ruin because they were all he had. And now that stupidity might be their end.

So now he ran, back to his home, back to her, hoping that he was as hard to forget as she was.