It’s funny how your life can change in the blink of an eye. One moment it can be everything you wanted it to be and then it can be a nightmare from hell. When that happens, you expect the ones that are suppose to love you the most to be there for you. It doesn’t always work like that. I’ve learned the hard way, in more ways than one, that love can not conquer all. Some things you just can’t get past no matter how much you love a person. This is my story.

She was seventeen when the change occurred. She remember it as though it was yesterday, sitting in her room mapping out her future plans to her first boyfriend. His name was Cody and she was smitten the first moment she met him. Marie remembered the feel of his soft lips upon her and the way he slowly closed his eyes. Then, she felt the surge ignite her body. At first she thought it was normal, like that was how it was suppose to be. Deepening the kiss, she hoped like hell she was doing it right. The surge continued to grow until it was a painful throb running throughout her. Marie opened her eyes wide and tried to break the kiss. Horrified, she watched the veins, of her boyfriend, protruding out in an unnatural way. With all the strength that she had, she pushed away from Cody and watched him collapse back on the bed. Images of summer days, playing on a swing and in the mud assaulted Marie’s mind, yet they were not her memories. Confused, she slammed back against the wall of her room and screamed.

Her parents ran into the room and were horrified to find Cody convulsing on the bed and her uncontrollable by the door. They tried to console her but she snapped at them. Marie felt as though she was going crazy. There was a voice in her head, sounding an awful lot like Cody, screaming at her in anger. She sobbed at the voice that it wasn’t her fault but he didn’t care. That would be the last time she would ever saw her first boyfriend.

Days later, Marie sat at her kitchen table with her parents. They had figured out what had happened and it tore her word a part. Mutant…..that was a bad word in this house. She had heard her parents talk of such people but it was never good. She really didn’t have an opinion on mutants. To Marie, they were people just like everyone else. She was starting to realize that people were scared of what they didn’t understand, her parents being in that group of course. These two loving people, who gave everything they could to her, was now scared of what she had become. Imagine a seventeen year old girl watching her father turn towards her with hate in his eyes and a mother who carried her, loved her, and held her when she cried, look at her in disgust. That is a pain that no one, not even the evilest of people should ever experience.

As if the hurt of her parent’s looks couldn’t cut any deeper, the words that came from their mouths tortured her dreams long after that awful day. Marie guessed they forgot about all of the lullaby’s, kisses, hugs and laughs because at that moment she ceased to be their daughter. She ceased to be their Marie. She was a thing, a mutant and no longer welcomed in their home.

Marie watched as her father threw a small duffle bag at her feet and pointed to the door. Her mother turned away as her tears fell on the clean surface of the kitchen table. She stood without a word and proceeded to the door. Marie heard her mother’s wrecked sobs but it meant nothing to her anymore. Her mother would no sooner stop this than her father would and that deadened a piece of Marie’s heart.

She had nothing, just the clothing on her back and in her duffel bag. She only had two hundred dollars in cash and not a clue where to go. Looking back at her home, Marie let the tears fall unashamed. Her safe haven, her sacred place no longer existed because of her poisonous skin. She was so angry but not sure who she was angry at. Was she angry at herself for allowing this to happen, or was she angry at her parents for not letting love be enough? The voice in her head, that was Cody, told her it didn’t matter…..she got what she deserved.

So, for the next eighteen months Marie went from state to state, living on anything that she could. Sleeping in an alley or in a train station, it didn’t matter as long as she could sleep. Her eighteenth birthday was spent hitchhiking into Canada.

Marie remembered the day that she met him as plain as anything. She had arrived in a small town called Laughlin City, intending this to be one of her stops back when her life made sense. It’s funny that she still managed to make it to one of her destinations. She wished that she could have said she was impressed but really it was nothing but a whole in the ground. All Marie could see was a few stoplights, a grocery store and a rundown bar. Taking a deep breath, she decided that she would stop and rest in the bar for a few and then be on her way.

Marie took two steps towards the bar, when she heard someone walking up behind her. Eighteen months on the road had taught her a lot and she turned to defend herself. There, standing in front of her, was an elderly looking man. His age was not what caught her off guard, but the fact that she felt an air of supremacy radiating from him that almost knocked her to her knees. Two feeling went through Marie at once…..fear and awe. He stood there smiling at her while she gawked at him.

“I have been waiting on you my dear,” he said.

Marie was silent for a while thinking about what he just said. ‘Waiting on me? Why‘?

“W…who are you,” she whispered.

Marie watched as two people came and stood beside him. She took them in and noticed right away that they were mutants. One was a woman, with raven hair and blue skin, as blue as the ocean. She stood possessively beside the elderly man. Marie wondered if they were a couple. The other man stood to be about seven feet tall. He had long blond hair and eyes as black as coal. He scared the hell out of her.

“My name is Eric Lehnsherr and I, my dear, am just like you. I have come to offer you a safe haven from this world.”

She looked at the three people in front of her and thought about her life so far. There was nothing and no where for her to go. This man, this mutant, was offering a place for her to go. Could she trust him? She didn’t know, but what was her alternative? Marie had absolutely no money left and she hadn’t eaten in three days.

“What’s the catch,” she asked suspiciously.

“There is no catch my dear. I have a place for mutants where I train them and take care of them. We call ourselves the brotherhood and you would be a great addition to our cause.”

“What cause?”

His smile widened and she felt uneasy. There was something off about these three, yet she couldn‘t place it. ‘Could I take a chance on these people who were like me’, she asked herself?

“The cause for mutant kind of course,” he said matter-of-factly.

Taking a deep breath, she looked back at the run down bar. Marie could hear cheering from inside and see people going in and out.

“Why not, there is nothing for me here,” she whispered.

Turning back towards the three people, Marie walked towards them.

“I warn you now, my skin is deadly so no touching,” she said to them. The look that was shared between the blue woman and Eric wasn’t lost on her.

And so, she started her new life in the brotherhood. That’s what they called themselves. She ended up back in the States, in Westchester, New York. The place that was Eric Lehnsherr’s was more like a cave than anything.

Marie learned that his mutant power was that he could control metal, thus the cave house, as she affectionately started calling it, was made out of metal. There were other’s living their as well. All of them went by code names like Toad and Quicksilver. None of them really liked her though. She stayed to herself as she watched the everyday workings of the brotherhood.

Training started early in the morning and usually ran until late at night. Marie only stopped to eat and sleep. She was taught to fight and use her curse of skin to her benefit and for once it felt good to take her anger out on other things. It was the first time she got to deal with her screwed up life. She spent most of her free time in her room reading. Everyone treated Marie as though she didn‘t exist.

Over the next couple of months that would change and not for the better. They started to go on missions. The first couple of missions were small things, recover a disk here, and steal a government paper there. Steadily it grew more dangerous over time and she started to wonder what in the hell she had gotten herself into. The only good thing she felt during these missions was that her teammates actually acknowledged her. Everyone had their code names and so Marie became the Rogue. It was appropriate she thought. None of them knew her real name, which was fine by her.

The first time Marie ever watched someone being killed was on a mission to ‘save mutant kind’, as Eric had described it. She watched in horror as Sabretooth gutted a poor security guard to death. He looked as though he was enjoying it a little too much. She was frozen where she stood, as she watched the blood pool around the man’s body. There were screams all around her, yet she could not break the fear that wrapped itself around her heart. This was not what Marie signed up for, to kill humans. She just wanted a place to feel like home and people that understood exactly what she was going through.

Mystique scream profanities over the noise of the dying humans and Marie looked up to see what she was talking about. Standing about twenty yards away from them was a group of seven people. They were all wearing identical black leather suits. She noticed that each one of them had an X on their suits. Mystique said the word X-men and the brotherhood took to a fighting stance. Marie followed suit, not really ready for an actual fight.

The seven people started towards them slowly. Their movements were trained and in sync. Marie was impressed by the way they communicated with one another without so much as a word. She watched as a white haired woman raised herself in the air and stretched her hands out to the heavens. All at once the skies opened up and the wind came crashing down on them. The brotherhood fought against the weight that threatened to topple them and started using their own powers to defend themselves. All Marie could do was watch since it took a close up fight to use her powers. The six remaining X-men started running towards them.

Each one of her teammates were in a struggle with the group of X-Men as she stood their helpless. Reaching towards her gloves, Marie yanked them off to help the person closest to her. Reaching out her hand, Marie tried to touch an Asian looking girl when she was stopped in mid air. She could not move a muscle. Looking around in horror, Marie saw the reason for her situation. A woman with flaming red hair had her hand extended out in her direction, freezing Marie in her tracks.

At the same time, she watched as a man, wearing what looked to be ruby lens glasses, reach his hand up to touch the sides of them. The next moment, Marie felt a sharp pain in her chest as it knocked her a few feet back. Hitting the ground hard, the world came in and out of focus. Every part of her body ached as she tried to sit up.

Groaning, she turned on her side and watched helplessly as Mystique screamed for everyone to get to the jet. They were leaving her behind without so much as a thought. Marie tried to scream but all that came out was a cough. Her chest felt as though it was on fire while her breathing came out in short ragged breaths. As Mystique got to the jet, she turned to look in Marie’s direction. Reaching out her hand, Marie cried out for Mystique to help her. The blue shape shifter turned her back on Marie and ran into the jet. Stunned, she felt herself slowly slipping into unconsciousness. Footsteps were coming closer towards Marie and she tried with everything she had to get to her feet. She was on her own and had to defend herself from these people. ‘Would I become a lab rat?’, she asked herself. Marie had heard Eric and the others talk about mutants being taken for scientific research and my God she would become one of them now.

The last thing that she remembered, before she succumb to the darkness taking over her, was the sound of her teammates flying away and the feel of hands lifting her body off of the cold wet ground.

The first thing that struck Marie, as she came to, was the feeling that she couldn’t move her arms and legs. Groaning loudly, she moved her head to the side and waited for her eyes to focus. The room was too bright and her instincts told her to shut her eyes again. Fear took over as she lay on the hard, cold surface of what she thought passed for a bed in this place. Marie knew in an instant that she was in a lab. It was no hospital or healthcare facility though. Her breathing sped up and she tried everything to pull her hands and legs free of the restraints holding her down.

“That won’t do anything but make the restraints tighter.”

Marie froze at the sound of a woman’s voice coming from behind her. The voice did not sound too friendly. Why did those stupid excuses for teammates leave her to fend for herself?

‘We were supposed to be a family’, she thought. They were supposed to be someone she could rely on. Now, she found herself in the hands of the enemy and she was scared to death.

“Please let me go,” Marie said hoarsely.

There was no answer and she wondered if the woman had left the room. Suddenly, a beautiful woman came into view with a large needle in her hand. Marie shrank back as far as she could, trying anything and everything to get away from the ugly looking needle. Looking up into the face of the woman before her, Marie saw the gleam in her eyes. ‘Was she really enjoying terrorizing me‘?

“Hold still,” she said, grabbing my arm.

Marie sucked in a breath as the woman’s gloved hands pulled her shirt up and the needles pierced her arm. Closing her eyes, Marie prayed that this was all a dream and that she would wake up in her lonely, isolated room. The blinding pain lasted only a minute and then the needle was gone. Marie felt the woman let go of her arm and walk back behind her.

Moments later, the door to the lab room opened and Marie looked to see a man in a wheelchair come rolling towards her. Behind him was the man with the ruby lens glasses and her heart started to pound faster. She could still feel the throbbing pain in her chest, where he hit her with whatever it was that came from his eyes. The man in the wheelchair stopped a few feet away from Marie and a soft smile grew on his face. For just a moment she relaxed at the sight of the smile.

“Hello. My name is Charles Xavier and welcome to my home for the gifted. It seems that we have not met on the best of circumstances.”

Charles Xavier, she knew that name. Eric had talked about him several times over the past couple of months. They had a history, starting out as best friends but turning to sworn enemies. Both had a different goal in mind for mutants and humans, one wanting them to co-exist and the other wanted to dominate the species that wasn’t mutants.

“What is your name,” she heard him ask.

“Rogue,” Marie whispered.

He smiled a sad smile at the name she gave him. Marie felt that he understood she wasn’t going to give him her real name. She didn’t feel comfortable sharing that bit of information with these strangers.

“Rogue, I want you to stay with us for now, let us show you that there is a way to live peacefully in this world. There is another way besides what Eric has shown you.”

Looking away from the pity in his eyes, Marie stared at the straps holding her extremities down. The next comment from Xavier’s mouth had her turning her attention back towards him.

“Give me a chance to help you control your skin Rogue.”

The thought of being able to control her curse had tears blinding her vision. She had longed for the day when she was able to do such a thing. Was it possible that this man could help her to achieve that which she thought was out of her reach.

“Can you do that,” she asked in a small voice.

She watched as he reached and undid the straps around her legs and did the same for her hands.

“I will do everything I can to try”.

Marie slowly sat up and looked at the people around her. The woman that had poked her with a needle looked as though she were ready to explode. What was her problem anyway? Looking at the man with the weird glasses, she noticed he didn’t look happy either. Why would they? All they knew was that she was their enemy and this man had just invited her to stay with them.

“Okay,” she whispered.

Xavier smiled broadly and turned towards the woman as he spoke, “Jean would you show Rogue to the spare room on the second floor please”.

“Charles this is crazy. She is one of the brotherhood and you are just going to let her walk around so close to the children. She is dangerous.”

The anger coming off of Jean made Marie flinch. She was dangerous, she couldn’t deny that, but she would never hurt innocent children….especially ones like herself.

“Jean, please do as I asked. I believe there is more to Rogue’s story than what’s on the surface,” Xavier said calmly.

Jean blew out a breath and proceeded to walk towards the door, only turning around to glare at Rogue. “Are you coming or not,” she asked angered.

Marie really didn’t want to be alone with this woman but she had no choice but to follow. Getting to her wobbly legs, Marie caught herself on the edge of the bed. She waited till she was steady and walked towards the angered woman.

Walking throughout the huge mansion, Marie was in awe of such luxury. It was a totally different world from Eric’s cave home. She walked as close as she could to the wall to stay out of the path of the running children. The atmosphere of this place was one of lively laughter. For the first time since leaving home, Marie actually thought she could call this place home someday.

She was quickly brought out of her thoughts as she ran straight into Jean. The woman jumped back and started cursing at Marie.

“Oh God, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going. I didn’t mean to run into you,” she said apologetically.

“Listen to me carefully Rogue. I think Charles is making a huge mistake letting you stay here. The first chance you get, you will stab us all in the back and hang us to dry with Eric. I swear to you if I see you do anything to harm anyone in this house I will burn you alive, understand me?”

The warm feelings that Marie was having a minute ago vanished with the harsh words that Jean spoke. It only reminded her of how she also didn’t fit in this place. Was there no where that she could call home? Would her entire life consist of people that hate and feared her….even her own kind? She looked away from the redhead woman in shame. Was it her fault that she didn’t know this place existed before Eric got to her?

“I understand,” she said in defeat.

This woman made her feel inferior and that made Marie feel even worse than she already did. Jean opened the door in front of her and walked away without another word. Marie walked in and looked around at her new room. It was pretty big compared to what she was used to. It had only one bed, which meant that it was a single bedroom and she was very thankful for that. The thought of sharing a room with someone really didn’t sit well with her. Walking over to her bed, she fell down on top of the covers and for the first time since her journey began almost two years ago, Marie cried herself to sleep.

There was a pounding on her door and Marie woke with a start. Jumping to her feet, she looked around frantically, trying to remember where she was. The pounding continued as it all sunk in for her. She relaxed a bit and looked at the clock on the end table which read 7:00 p.m… Stumbling towards the door she opened it half way. The light from the hall made Marie squint her eyes. There standing in front of her was the white haired woman that controlled the skies. She was taken aback by the woman’s beauty even as the frown shown on her dark face.

“I have come to let you know it is time for dinner child. Everyone meets down in the dining room at this time so you better get going.”

Marie could tell that the woman was not happy with her being here, yet she wasn’t as angered and hurtful as Jean was. She imagined that she wouldn’t get a lot of welcomes tonight. That thought made her stomach turn and for a moment she thought about skipping dinner. If it wasn’t for the fact that she was starving, Marie would have gladly went back to sleep. Opening the door wider, she stepped out into the hall. She tried not to flinch as she watched the white haired goddess jump back away from her. Marie turned her face away so she wouldn’t be able to see how much that hurt her.

Walking, in silence, to the dinning room, Marie could hear the many voices coming from the room before her. She started to get real nervous and stopped a moment to calm herself. When she felt she had control again, she walked through the double doors and watched as every person in the room turned towards her. There was not a sound to be heard as the residents of Xavier’s school for the gifted took in the sight of her. Marie stood there at their mercy as she noticed all of the sneers and all of the fear in the students and teachers faces. Snapping out of her fear, Marie walked over and grabbed a tray. She heard one of the kids at a table, closest to her, yell out freak and the dining room exploded in laughter. Marie flinched at the remark.

“John that is enough! Take your food to your room now,” she heard Xavier’s booming voice say over the laughter. At his angered words, the dining room once again became silent. Marie wanted to turn around and thank him but she was ashamed of the tears that were in her eyes. Grabbing the first thing she came to, which was a Greek Salad, she walked to one of the tables. She tried to sit down but was stopped by a blond haired boy putting his leg in the chair.

“This seat is saved…..sorry,” he said sneering. She recognized him as one of the people at the lab that night. Looking at the table, she noticed that all of them were there that night. Sitting just a couple of seats down from her was the Asian girl she had tried to touch. Guilt lay it’s ugly hand upon her as she turned away from the group of people. Every table she passed, the children would cover the empty seats so she couldn’t sit down. Before she knew it, she was out of the dining room and headed towards the back yard. Before she was out of hearing distance, she caught the saddened, angry voice of Xavier.

Opening the back door, Marie stepped out into the cool air. She found a small table beside a flower garden. Sitting down, she removed her gloves. She didn’t really know how long she sat their eating while tears flowed freely down her face. Before she knew it, her body was assaulted with heavy sobs as her food was forgotten.

“Rogue.” She looked up to see Xavier coming towards her. “I’m so sorry that you had to go through that. I….thought I had taught my students to be better than that,” he said sadly.

“I never thought I would say this, but I don’t think that learning to control my skin is worth living like this,” she said through her sobs. “I think I’ll go back to Eric.”

“No! Don’t say that Rogue. It will get better I promise. With time they will see that you are no threat to them.”

He spoke with such conviction that it made Marie want to believe him. She felt that she could learn to love this place. This man seemed to genuinely want to help her. Before she could speak, the sound of a motorcycle roared in front of the mansion. She watched Xavier look in the direction of the sound with a far off look on his face. He smiled a small smile and looked back at Marie.

“Looks like you won’t be the only visitor we have tonight.”

Marie wondered who he was talking about. Were there people that came and stayed here for just a little while and then went on their way? “Rogue, please think about what I said. I don’t want you to go anywhere. I have so much to teach you and if you will give it a little time it will get better.”

She looked into the caring eyes of this man and nodded her head in agreement. It was the least she could do for him after he had treated her nicely. She watched him turn and wheel himself back into the mansion. Looking at where Xavier was going, Marie noticed a man standing there waiting on him. Even from where she was sitting, she felt her breath still at the sight of him. Dressed in blue jeans, a flannel shirt and leather jacket stood the most beautiful man that she had ever seen. His hair was sticking up in ever direction with mutton chops to add to his gruff exterior. She could tell, even under all of the clothing, that he had a chiseled body. Finally letting the breath, that she had been holding, out she looked away. What was she thinking? She was the girl with poisonous skin. No man would ever want to be with her. They would run in terror before getting close to her. Looking back inside the mansion, Xavier and the mystery man was nowhere to be seen.

Sighing heavily, Marie gathered her things and went back inside. The dining room was completely empty as she threw her garbage away. She opened up the refrigerated and grabbed some bottled water. Sitting at one of the empty tables, Marie drank the cold tasting liquid as fast as she could. She dare not be caught down here by herself. As she took the last of the water in her mouth, the voice that called out from the dining room door almost had her spitting in out in fright.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in bed?”

Looking over at the voice’s owner, she was shocked to see the mystery man looking at her. He was even more handsome up close. He was nursing a beer in one hand and an unlit cigar in the other. She couldn’t find her voice to answer him so she sat and gawked. Grunting, he turned around and headed outside. Marie couldn’t explain what made her stand up and start to follow him but she did. Coming to the back door, she hesitated, not sure if he would mind her company. He really didn’t ask her to follow him.

“You just gonna’ stand there, or are you gonna’ join me,” he asked not looking at her.

Marie wasn’t really sure what she wanted to do yet. It confused her a little that he would actually ask her to join him seeing as everyone else did the total opposite, but something told her he wasn’t like the rest of them. Slowly, she made her way towards the table where he stood. Taking a seat, she looked quickly at his back. The smoke, from his cigar, was floating lazily through the darkened night. After what seemed like hours, he finally turned to look at her. She felt her heart start to quicken as his dark eyes took her in. She wanted to squirm under his intense gaze but sat firmly in her seat. The light of the moon caught something reflecting around his neck. Looking more closely, she saw dog tags. The name on them confused her a bit…..Wolverine.

“So what’s your story,” he asked.

Looking back to his face, she thought for a moment what to tell him. It seemed the truth about her scared everyone and for reasons unknown to her, the thought of this man being scared of her made her sad. Instead of answering him she shrugged her shoulders and looked away.

“Listen kid, we all got shit in the closet. Whatever it is that has happened give it up. All it’s gonna’ do is eat at ya and make you an old ass hole like me.”

Before she knew it, she was laughing. She couldn’t stop it from bubbling out of her. It had been so long since she had laughed this hard. Seems Xavier took it upon himself to let this man in on what was going on with her. The fact that he wasn’t running or sneering was a good sign. She took a deep breath to get herself under control. A part of her didn’t want to stop laughing, because there was no telling when she would be able to experience that again. Looking at this man in front of her, she noticed the small smile playing on his lips.

“Thank you,” she whispered. He didn’t say a word to her, just nodded his head.

They sat for a while in comfortable silence. She watched him as he smoked his cigars and looked away quickly every time he would look in her direction. She felt like a giddy school girl being this close to him, yet she couldn’t make herself get up and leave. Even without saying a word, she felt comfortable for the first time since being here.

“Why were you sitting out here during dinner?” She was caught off guard by his question. Did he really notice her back then? Looking at anything but him, she answered him in a small voice.

“The dining room was too crowded. There weren’t any chairs available,” she said bitterly.

She hated that she sounded so pitiful but reliving earlier events made her want to cry all over again. He grunted a reply and she smiled a small smile at the sound.

“I know what you mean by crowded.” He did not elaborate on that statement, and Marie didn’t push it. She thought she understood him perfectly. “Are you gonna’ give me a name, or do you enjoy being called kid?”

“Rogue,” came her simple reply. He nodded his head in understanding and took a swig of his beer. She was so tired and couldn’t help the heaviness that fell upon her eyes. She felt her eyes close and slowly let her head fall to the table. Before she could get good and asleep, she felt a hand lightly shake her shoulder. The first thing that registered to her brain was that someone was touching her. Fear took her over immediately and she jumped back. Before she could stop herself, she fell to the ground and scooted as far back from the man as possible. Her mind kept playing the feeling of his hand on her shoulder and it made her fear for his safety. Maybe he really didn’t know all there was to know about the Rogue……like don’t touch her or you could die.

“Hey….hey I’m sorry Rogue,” he said standing with his hands in the air.

She tried to calm her rapid breathing and closed her eyes to get herself under control. Slowly embarrassment replaced the fear. Not only would he be afraid of her, but now he would think she was crazy. Marie watched in fascination as the man came around the table and held his hand out to her. She stared at his huge hand extended before her as if she had never seen such a thing before. No one had chosen to touch her on purpose since her skin kicked on. Here this man was only inches from death and he acted as though he didn’t give a damn.

Slowly she put her gloved hand in his and felt him pull her to her feet. They stood there for a moment staring at one another. Electricity, that is the only way to explain it, ran through Marie as she took in the man in front of her. What she wouldn’t give to have someone like him in her life, to hold her and comfort her. That dream died a long time ago. As she thought that, it broke the spell between them and Marie looked away sadly.

Walking towards the door, she heard him ask her a question. “So what kind of a name is Rogue?” Stopping in her tracks, she again smiled a wide smile into the darkness. He really wasn’t afraid of her. Slowly, Marie turned towards him and watched him for a moment. “I don’t know. What kind of a name is Wolverine?”

She watched him take a puff of smoke and let it out. Looking at her, he smirked. “My name is Logan.”

“Marie.” She said the name without thinking. It caught her off guard at how easy it was to tell this complete stranger her true name.

“Goodnight Marie,” he said in a low voice.

She couldn’t find her voice to speak. It was wrapped up in more emotions than she could count. To hear another person saying her real name was overwhelming. It had not been said since before the incident with Cody.

“Good night Logan,” she whispered.

Turning around, she walked back inside before he could see the tears start flowing down her face.

Marie awoke to the sound of the alarm clock blaring in her ear. Groaning loudly, she smacked the annoying thing with her hand. Another day had found it’s way to her and she wasn’t looking forward to getting up. It was 6:30 in the morning and she had just enough time to jump in the shower before facing the people that seemed to hate her. What a way to start a day.

Feeling the hot water splash down her face helped Marie to relax a bit. She could do this. She could make these people realize that she was no more harmful to them than the next mutant. As she stood there under the calming water she thought about last night. Logan had done the one thing the others refused to do…..he talked to her. Before she knew it, a small smile was playing on her lips as she thought of him. He was by no means a prince charming, yet the roughness of him drew her in. Marie hoped like hell she would have more moments with the man named Logan.

Climbing out of the shower she made her way, to what few clothes she had, hanging in the closet. The selection was few and far between so she grabbed the first thing she saw, which was a pair of denim jeans and a black tight fitting turtleneck. Walking over to her dresser, Marie grabbed her black gloves and slid them in to place. She slowly turned to look at herself in the mirror. Her body was covered in every place but her face and she let out a small, sad sigh. ‘So much for being the sexy woman impressing the men’, she thought.

Walking out into the hall, she noticed it was completely deserted. Everyone must have already made their way down to the dining room for breakfast. Again, she would have to walk in to the stares and sneers. As she got closer she could hear the sounds of laughter coming from the room. Everyone seemed to be in an upbeat mood, which could turn into a great thing for her.

Entering the dining room, all laughter and talking ceased. Marie’s heart started to pound loudly in her chest as she took in all of the people staring at her. Was it so hard for these people just to except her presence? She walked to the breakfast bar and started placing food on her plate. Even with her back turned, she could feel eyes boring into her.

Marie found a small table in the corner that was empty, so she made a bee line for it. Taking a seat, she looked around for Xavier, but he was no where to be found. ’Great’, she thought.

“Hey….hey vampire.”

Marie flinched at the whispered words coming from behind her. She didn’t want to turn around to see the owner of the voice calling out to her. Closing her eyes, she willed herself not to cry. She would never give these people the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

“Hey, I’m talking to you girl. You don’t belong here. Why don’t you do us all a favor and go back to your goons at the brotherhood.”

Before she could speak, she heard a low growl coming from beside her. Marie looked up to see Logan, standing there, staring daggers into the person taunting her. There was an audible gulp as the boy turned back in his seat. Logan made his way to the empty chair, in front of her, and sat down heavily. She stared at him as he continued eating his breakfast. Slowly, she watched him raise his eyes to her and give her a small wink. There were no words spoken as they eat their food. The others did not dare try to taunt her anymore as Logan sat with her.

“Where’s the professor,” Marie asked.

Logan looked up from his food and shrugged his shoulders. “Business trip I guess.”

“Oh….okay.” Marie was disappointed that he wasn’t here. She was hoping like hell she could start working on her control today. She guessed it would have to wait.

“So, you got any plans today,” Logan asked as he stuffed a fork load of eggs into his mouth. Marie shook her head no. “Well if ya want, you can hang out with me in my classes today. I teach a combat skills class and it might be interesting to ya to see these snot nose kids get knocked around by me,” he said smirking.

This man confused the hell out of her. Why was he being so nice to her while everyone else treated her like the plague? The confusion must have been showing on Marie’s face because Logan asked her what was wrong.

“Why are you being so nice to me? I’m the enemy remember?”

Logan took a deep sigh and looked around the room at the others. “I guess I know what it’s like to be the outsider.”

He did not elaborate on what he meant by that, and Marie didn’t feel comfortable asking him to explain. She was grateful that at least one person, a side from the professor, wasn’t scared to talk to her. “I’d like that Logan. Thank you,” she said with a small smile.

As they walked towards the Danger Room, Marie watched Logan out of the corner of her eye. She watched his walk and the way he made his presence known to the people passing by. He had an air of dominance in his step and she smiled a little thinking of what it was going to be like to watch him kicking some ass. Looking at the people that they passed, she noticed how they all made an attempt to step out of his path. She would definitely have to figure out his story sooner or later and why everyone seemed terrified of him.

He brought her to a large circular room that made her eyes bulge out. It was completely empty yet the shear size of it blew her away. She walked to the middle of the circle and turned around slowly, taking in every aspect that was the Danger Room. Turning towards Logan, he smirked. She liked that look on him and couldn’t help the rose color that filled her cheeks. Marie could get used to seeing that smirk.

“Come on darlin‘. You’ll watch from here,” he said walking towards a set of stairs.

Marie did everything she could not to let that term of endearment go to her head. Of course he didn’t mean anything by it. Walking into the control room, Marie saw that she had a perfect view of the Danger Room below. He walked her to a chair and gestured for her to sit down. She did so and couldn’t help the way her heart sped up at his proximity. She really had to get a hold of herself and fast.

She felt him lean down to whisper in her ear, “Enjoy the show darlin”.

Before she could react to his closeness to her, he was gone. She let out an unsteady breath and wiped the perspiration off of her forehead. ’When did it get hot in here’, she thought. Minutes later she watched as seven people walked into the room. They were all clad in black leather, which made her take a deep breath as she remembered the night they had fought her and the brotherhood. She recognized some of them being there that night. The others, she had only seen in the dining room looking none to happy that she was there. They came in and started to stretch and warm up.

As she watched them get ready for combat practice, she noticed Logan coming into view and liked to have fallen off her chair. “Holy mother of God,” Marie whispered. There, in all his glory was the best looking man that she had ever seen in tight black leather. They had to have designed that black leather suit for Logan, it fit him perfectly.

“Ok ladies, your objective is to capture your enemy which is…..me. You have one hour to achieve this and if you don’t, well I look forward to kicking the shit out of you.” Marie couldn’t help the giggle that came out of her mouth hearing Logan talk like a bad ass. “COMBAT PRACTISE 13,” Logan yelled. There was a computerized voice that confirmed Logan’s command and the lights went dim.

Marie watched in fascination as the white circular room turned in to a modern day apocalypse. There were cars turned up side down, and buildings in ruin and on fire. She could not believe what she was seeing. Now she understood the purpose for the room’s size. Marie watched as the seven people went on the search for their subject. Her heart started racing as she saw Logan moving in and out of view. She had no idea how he was going to defend himself against these seven mutants.

What came next had Marie on the edge of her seat. She watched as balls of flames shot out in one direction and a line of ice in the other. There were sparkles as if fireworks were being set off and things disappearing and reappearing in other places. She watched as a girl went straight through a car to hide on the other side. Cards, as if they were bombs, exploded in mid air. She gasped as she saw one of the people take to flight with wings like an angle. And then she heard it, a sound as primal and animalistic as the animal itself. The roar was like nothing she had ever heard and she watched Logan…..no this had to be the Wolverine, come into view again. He was hunched down waiting to attack and attack he did. He had let all of them make the first move and then he went in for the score.

It only took minutes but Marie was breathing so hard that she thought at any minute she would pass out. All seven members of the X-Men were laying flat on their backs. Logan walked around them in a circle unscathed. He had single handedly taken each one of them down in a not so nice way.

“I think I made my point very clear. Class dismissed,” Logan said walking away.

The apocalyptic scene disappeared and went back to the huge circular room. “Wow,” Marie breathed. She wanted to try this room out so bad.

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t hear someone enter the room. “What are you doing here?” Marie jumped from her chair at the sound of the angered voice. Turning around, she saw the ruby lens man staring at her. He was visibly upset that she was in the control room alone. Looking past her, she watched as his face became furious. Marie looked at what he had seen and panic overtook her. The X-Men were still on the ground trying to recover from Logan’s beating, yet Logan was no where to be found. She knew in an instance what this man was thinking.

“It’s not what you think. I…..I was watching Logan’s class f…from here.” She hated the way her voice was shaking. She had done nothing wrong, yet she felt that she had to defend herself. As if in slow motion, she watched the man reach up towards his glasses. Marie slammed her eyes shut in anticipation of the burn that would come but nothing happened. She opened her eyes when she heard someone being knocked into the wall.

“I’ve waited a long time to have a reason to gut you One eye and I’d be damned if you didn’t give it to me,” Logan said through clenched teeth.

“Logan what are you doing? She tried to kill the Beta team,” he said aggravated.

Marie watched wide eyed as three large claws made their way out of Logan’s knuckles, sliding dangerously close to the man’s neck. “That was me you jackass.”

“How was I supposed to know that? I come in and see one of the brotherhood in the control room and then see my team down. What would you think,” the man asked defensively.

The claws slowly made their way back into Logan’s hand as he released the man. “Scott, I thought you of all people would show a little tolerance. How about stepping up and being the leader that you’re suppose to be and show these geeks how to fuckin’ act,” Logan said pointing to where the Beta team was still laying.

Logan turned to Marie and motioned for her to follow him. She walked slowly past the ruby lens man very cautiously. She could feel his eyes, under his glasses, staring holes into her. As she made her way towards the stairs, she felt Logan put his hand on the small of her back and she flinched without meaning to. He dropped his hand fast and looked at her apologetically.

“I know the claws look scary.” She was caught off guard by the sadness in his voice. Marie realized that he took her flinching as a sign she was scared of him.

“It’s not the claws I’m scared of Logan. If you had deadly skin, the thought of touching wouldn’t be high on your list of things to do.”

She watched him think about what she said and then nod in understanding. “Fair enough,” he said.

They walked out into the backyard. It was a beautiful windy day, just right for all of her clothing. They sat down on the table that she had eaten on last night and didn’t speak. Just being out in the open air was washing Marie of the panic she felt earlier.

“I…um, I’m sorry that these idiots are treatin’ ya so shitty. I’m actually surprised in a way.” Marie looked over to see Logan staring at her. For the first time since they had met, she saw his eyes turn soft. She was amazed at how many sides there was to this man and she had a feeling that she wasn’t even close to the very surface of who he was.

“I’m not. Since my mutation manifested that’s all I’ve known,” she whispered.

He didn’t comment on that. Marie guessed that this man wasn’t used to deep conversations with people. She had to ask him one question that had been bothering her since she saw the claws. Marie didn’t know why she needed to know the answer…..she just did.

“W….when they come out, does it hurt?”

Logan slowly looked down at his reddened knuckles and took a deep breath. “Every time,” was his only answer.

The next couple of days were filled with Marie tagging along with Logan to his combat classes and enjoying the cool afternoons outside. She noticed how he was always around whenever she was roaming through the mansion or reading leisurely in the library. The other inhabitants in the mansion still didn’t talk to her but the teasing and sneers were down to a minimum.

For the most part Logan kept within eye distance not really bothering her but there were times when they would have a laid back conversation. Marie liked those times the most. She was beginning to enjoy his company the more they spent with each other. She was even beginning to control the urge to flinch when he would brush against her by accident.

“Logan, the professor would like a word with you…and you too.”

Marie and Logan were sitting under the oak tree, in the backyard, when Jean came to tell them that the professor was looking for them. The look in Jean’s eyes as she looked at Marie did not go unnoticed by either of them. Jean looked as though she could spit in Marie’s face and get a kick out of it.

They stood up and started to make their way towards the professor’s office. Marie noticed how Logan positioned himself between her and Jean. She wasn’t really sure if he did it on purpose or without thinking, but she was grateful. She didn’t want to be anywhere near the red head.

Reaching Xavier’s door, they heard him quietly call them into the room. Entering, she was impressed by the size of his office. It didn’t surprise her much that it was so spacious. After being in this mansion for a week, she was getting used to the extravagance that was Xavier’s school for the gifted youngsters.

“Hello Logan, Rogue…please have a seat,” he said gesturing to the two chairs in front of his mahogany desk.

Marie smiled politely at the professor while Logan only grunted. She felt like giggling every time he grunted.

“Marie, I want to apologize to you for having to leave for a few days. I know that you wanted to start on learning to control your skin. Some of my business ventures were not going as I had wanted them to so I had to go handle the problem.” Marie waved her hand dismissively and talk him that it was perfectly fine.

“That is good to hear. Now, for the reasons I have brought you in here. Rogue, if I understand correctly, you never finished high school is that right?” She shook her heard yes to confirm that he was correct. “Rogue I want to give you a chance to finish your high school education. You had about three months left yes?”

“That’s correct professor,” Marie said shyly. She was a little embarrassed that she had not finished high school. She was at the age where she should have been in college by now.

“Well then we will start with your classes as soon as possible,” he said smiling.

A feeling of dread came over Marie. The thought of being in a classroom filled with students and teachers that hated her wasn’t her idea of an education. “Um…professor…I don’t think my presence will be welcomed…by anyone.”

She saw Logan tense beside her and wondered what she had said to make him mad. Xavier’s loud sigh brought her attention back to him. “I thought by now that my students would have accepted you Rogue. I am sorry that it seems they still have a problem,” he said sadly.

“Yeah well it would help a little if they saw the adults acting more respectful.” Logan said harshly. Xavier nodded once in agreement as he spoke, “I will have to remedy that and soon.”

“Rogue, I know that you were trained by Eric but I was wondering if you would allow us to train you in our combat ways.” Marie remembered the class that Logan taught and sank a little in her seat. All of the mutants in the class had great powers for that kind of training. They were very useful in a fight and Marie didn’t really know how her powers would be that useful.

“I…I don’t know Professor. I don’t really see how my powers can be used in any kind of fight. When I would go on missions with the brotherhood, I would really just stand there. I was used only to get information, not for any kind of fighting.”

It was Logan’s turn to speak up. “There is more to fighting than just usin’ your powers kid. I can show ya how to fight with what the good Lord gave ya. Once you get the basics down, then we can start on usin’ your powers.”

“You…you would be teaching me?” Marie said in a scared voice.

Logan looked at her with real concern. “Hey kid what’s wrong?”

Marie didn’t answer him at first, but just sat staring at the burly man beside her. “Rogue?” she heard the professor call. Finding her voice, Marie spoke just above a whisper, “Are you…gonna throw me around like you did…the others?”

She jumped a little at the bellowing laugh that came from Logan. Marie was a little annoyed that he found her fears so funny. “Naw darlin that was just a way to show those punks they had better lay off of ya.”

“Do I even want to know what you two are talking about?” Xavier groaned. Both Marie and Logan shook their heads no. “Very well. Rogue I realize you came to us with a limited supply of clothing so I have taken the liberty to order a closet full of clothing and accessories for you. Anything that you do not want or if there is something you need that I did not order please don’t hesitate to let me know,” he said with a soft smile.

Marie was shocked. She could not believe that this man had just spent thousands of dollars on her. Eric would have never done such a thing. This kind hearted man had taken her in and was continuing to take care of her. “Thank you,” she whispered teary eyed. “I don’t know how I will be able to repay you.”

“That is not necessary Rogue. You are a part of my family now and I take care of my family.”

They continued to talk about different things. Xavier had decided to start her control classes on the following Monday. Marie was very grateful for hearing that. A weekend was not too long to wait. The thought of being able to touch someone was something she thought she would never have in her grasp. She still didn’t know if she could achieve it but at least she had a chance to find out now.

After leaving Xavier’s office, Marie found her way to her bedroom. She stretched out on top of her bed and before she knew it she was asleep. Her dreams were filled with black leather, mutton chops and claws.

She woke with a start and sat up on the bed. Noticing the darkness outside her bedroom window, Marie looked at the clock; it was 7:30 p.m… She had slept for four hours. Standing groggily to her feet, Marie walked out into the hall. The mansion was completely quiet.

Making her way down to the first floor she noticed Logan heading towards the front door. He was wearing tight black jeans, a black button up shirt with a white shirt underneath and his leather jacket. “Hey,” she called out to him. He stopped just short of the door and turned towards her. “Hey kid.”

Marie was beginning not to really care for that nickname. She didn’t like the idea of him thinking she was a kid. That thought got squashed as quickly as Marie thought of it. What did it matter what he thought of her? He stood there staring at her for a minute as if trying to make his mind up about something.

“It’s quite around here tonight,” she said to break the silence. She watched him nod his head. “It’s Friday night. Most everyone takes this night to get away. I was headed out for a little bit. You…you’re welcome to come if ya want.” Marie noticed how nervous he looked as he invited her to go with him and it made her sad. Maybe her being around him so much was starting to wear thin. “No that’s okay. I’m sure you want some time without me being around,” she said trying to smile.

He walked a few steps towards her before speaking. “That’s not it darlin, I’m just not sure you want to see the place I’m going to.” She was caught off guard by his statement. “Where are you going?” she asked curiously.

“Just a bar in Brooklyn. It’s not a very nice bar and I don’t think you’d like it very much.” No she wouldn’t like it. Bar equaled people in close proximity to one another, something she was not ready for yet. She smiled at him to confirm his statement. “Have fun Logan.” She turned to go back up the stairs but he stopped her. “I could stay here if ya want. I’ve been to that bar enough times I’ve lost count.” She couldn’t help the butterflies that found their way to her stomach. He was willing to be bored as hell at the mansion with her than to go to the place which she could tell he really wanted to go to.

“No…no Logan, you go ahead. I’ll be fine. I’m probably going to turn in early anyway.”

She watched the uncertainty in his eyes. “Go on,” she said more forcefully.

“I won’t be gone long. Most everyone is out so you won’t be bothered tonight,” he said making his way back to the door. Marie smiled and waved a goodbye.

She watched the door long after Logan had left. Without him around she started to feel alone. The silence that surrounded her was as thick as smoke. She started to walk around the mansion, touching the huge columns and beautiful paintings on the walls.

Making her way into the rec room, Marie walked to the pool table. She started playing with the balls, bouncing them off the sides of the table. “The untouchable girl alone on a Friday night,” she said out loud. Walking towards the couch, she picked up the remote and scanned the many channels. West Side Story, one of her favorite movies, was on and she settled in to watch it.

A couple of hours later, as the credits rolled on the movie, Marie heard laughter coming through the front door. She felt herself stiffen as she looked around for a place to hide because she didn’t want to be caught down here. There was no where to go as the three guys stepped into the room switching the lights on. The laughter died down as they took in a scared looking Marie.

“Well…well…well…what do we have here?” the blond guy asked his comrades.

“Remy sees da girl all alone Bobby,” the dark haired guy answered his friend.

“Don’t you mean vampire?” Marie recognized the other guys as being the one that threw fire from his hands.

Slowly getting to her feet, Marie proceeded to walk past the three guys towards the hall. The one they called Bobby stepped in front of her path, halting her movements. Marie stared at the floor, not daring to make eye contact with them. “Where are you going?” he asked. Her first thought was to take her gloves off and fight her way through, but something told her that she didn’t want these bastards in her head. She felt the three guys surrounding her. The smell of alcohol came from their breaths as they taunted Marie.

“Remy really didn’t like da beating he got because of you.” Marie saw him take a step closer to her and she tensed. She really didn’t know what to expect from them. Surly they would not try to rape her…she was the untouchable girl and all. Alcohol made you do crazy things though. She started walking backwards as she watched Remy advance. Suddenly she ran into someone’s chest and turned to see the flame throwing guy smiling drunkenly at her.

“You know, I always enjoy a challenge,” he said as he grabbed her and threw her against the pool table. The impact took the breath out of Marie. She tried to scream but nothing seemed to come out. The three men surrounded her, each being brave enough to grab her arms. Marie fought against them but they were too strong.

“Please stop,” she whispered frantically. All of her pleading did nothing to stop the men from advancing.

The next moments flew by so fast Marie almost missed it. She heard a loud roar from the entrance to the rec room and looked over to see Logan charging towards her and the men. She heard all three of them gasp as Logan raised his fists and made contact with Remy and Bobby’s faces. They went flying over the side of the pool table in a heap on the floor. With her arms loose, Marie fell to the floor. Flame thrower guy stood staring wide eyed at Logan as he grabbed him, slamming him into the nearest wall. Marie jumped at the sound his head made as it made contact with the wall. She watched horrified as the claws on Logan’s hand came in to view. Marie wanted to look away but she couldn’t.

Logan raised his hand and brought it forward to run it into flame thrower’s stomach, but was stopped in mid air.

“What is the meaning of this!” came the professor’s booming voice.

Marie looked over at the door to see a very irate Xavier wheeling in. Jean followed in behind him, concentrating on where Logan was standing.

Logan looked over at Jean as he spoke, “Jeannie, you better fuckin’ let me go now!” he growled. She did not respond but concentrated harder. Marie was starting to put two and two together and realized what the good doctor’s powers were. She watched as Xavier wheeled himself over to her and held his hand out for her to take.

“Logan, if you would be so kind as to put those claws away and release John.” Xavier said, still looking at Marie. “Fat chance in hell wheels,” Logan said through clenched teeth.

“What in the hell…Logan?” Everyone turned to see Scott coming into the room. Marie now noticed that they had a huge audience in the hall watching the events in the rec room unfold. Scott stopped in his tracks as he saw Marie on the floor.

“Scott, would you please take Remy, Bobby and John into my office and do not let them move a muscle until I get there.” Xavier was barely able to contain his rage as he spoke to the leader of the X-Men.

Marie heard the sound of Logan’s claws retracting as he threw John towards Scott. The three men were escorted out of the room by a very confused Scott while Xavier, Jean, Logan and Marie remained.

“Children, I think it is past your bedtimes,” Xavier said to the crowd outside the rec room. Marie could hear the anger still in the man’s voice. Everyone started to turn and walk back to their rooms upstairs so as not to feel Xavier’s wrath come down on their heads. The room was eerily silent as Marie slowly got to her feet. She noticed tears falling from her face and hadn’t the slightest clue when she had started crying. Anger was the first thing that she felt. She had told herself that she wouldn’t cry in front of these people and here she was crying like a baby.

“Rogue?” she heard Xavier’s gentle voice call.

Marie turned away from the man. Looking up to where she had turned, she came face to face with Logan. His anger was not yet under control. He stood rigid and tense boring his eyes into her. “Tell me you’re okay.” he whispered. She wasn’t really sure if she was okay or not. Physically she was fine but mentally she was spent. He reached for her arm and she flinched away from him. She hated to see the hurt look in his eyes but at that moment no one needed to touch her. Her anger was beginning to boil over as she stood in the silence of the room.

“Rogue, I am so sorry…” the professor began. Marie cut his sentence off by holding her hand up for him to stop. “Sorry…you’re sorry Xavier? Three of your students tried to attack me and you’re sorry?” she said between sobs. “This place is no better than Eric’s.”

“Excuse me!” Jean said angrily. “We have taken you in and put a roof over your head and you have the audacity to insult us?” She took a step towards Marie but stopped in her tracks as she saw Logan turn his furious stare in her direction.

“There wasn’t a damn insult in what she just said. The sad part is that it’s the truth.” Logan said. Jean looked at him shocked, “Logan?” she said confused.

“This is getting out of hand. Jean, please go to bed. Logan and Rogue wait for me here. I will be back once I deal with John, Bobby and Remy.” The professor said tiredly.

“Don’t worry about it Xavier, I’m out of here,” Marie said walking to the door of the rec room.

“Rogue please don’t leave.” She could hear Xavier wheeling around to stop her. She couldn’t see beyond the pain and the tears. Even Logan couldn’t stop her from going this time. There was no amount of promise to control her skin that would make her want to live in this hell. Marie was to her breaking point with these people. She could hear someone climbing up the stairs behind her but didn’t look back to see who it was.

“Rogue you cannot leave. Eric is looking for you,” Xavier called from the foot of the stairs.

“Fine by me since that is where I’m going,” Marie said angrily.

“Please Rogue you can’t do that. Listen to me; you have to stay here with us. I will fix everything I promise you.”

Xavier’s pleas stopped her short. She stood there for a few seconds before turning towards where the professor sat. Marie could now tell that it was Logan that had followed her up the stairs. He too was looking in the direction of the professor.

“And why do you care Xavier? I mean nothing to you. I am not a member of your family as you so eloquently put it earlier. I am going back to where I belong,” she sobbed.

Marie watched as fear covered the professor’s features. It was only a whisper, yet Marie heard it as plain as day.

“Rogue, Eric wants to kill you.”

Marie stood as still as possible as she let the words sink in. Eric wanted to kill her…why? What had she ever done to him except follow him? She felt the strength in her legs give way as she sat down hard on the stairs. She could no longer see the professor over Logan’s large frame. She noticed how tight his hands were balled into fists. At any moment she was sure she would see blood dripping from them.

“Chuck, are you sure?” Logan said low and dangerous.

His voice seemed light years away from her ears, as if she were in a tunnel. Marie slowly felt herself losing touch with reality, until Xavier spoke and all that was left was anger.

“I am certain Logan. I have insiders close to the brotherhood and they have reported to me Eric’s plans for Rogue. I am not yet sure how he plans on killing her, just that he is going to. Rogue, I swear to you that you have our protection while we bring Eric down.”

Marie saw red. Jumping to her feet, she pushed past Logan to get to Xavier. She saw Jean raise her hand and all movement stopped. Marie was frozen in place as she glared daggers at the old man. “Protection? Is that what you call this Xavier? From the moment I walked into this place I have had to defend myself. There is and never has been protection from you or anyone else in this place. If you don’t mind, tell your red headed puppet to let me go…now!” Marie did not even recognize the voice that came from her. It was foreign to her, yet the strength of it made her proud.

She only had a moment to pat herself on the back before she started feeling tightness in her chest. Looking up at the red head standing behind Xavier, Marie saw the glint in her eye. She realized that Jean was slowly squeezing her to death. Dropping to her knees, Marie let out a strangled sound as she felt Logan grab her.

“Jean, let her go NOW!” Xavier screamed at his prized pupil.

Marie slowly felt the pressure ease up as she leaned on Logan for support. The weight of her situation hit her like a ton of bricks. There was no safe haven for her. The mutants at Xavier’s could as easily kill her as the mutants at Eric’s. She was an outcast to the humans and mutants alike and it tore at her heart. Raising her head, she met the concerned eyes of Xavier. “You will no sooner protect me from your own children than from Eric,” Marie said getting to her feet. She jerked her arm out of Logan’s reach. Touching was the last thing she wanted as she turned to walk up the stairs.

“Marie,” Logan whispered as he gently grabbed her arm. Turning around abruptly, she jerked her arm back, “DON‘T TOUCH ME!” she yelled. She turned and proceeded back up the steps, not giving him time to speak.

Slamming the door hard, Marie went over to the window sill and sat down heavily. The grounds of the mansion were brightly lit by the moon giving it a haunting look. She would have loved to be under the oak tree on a night like this. Closing her eyes, she took a deep long breath. She would figure out what to do in the morning, as her options were few and far between.

There was a soft knock on the door as Marie contemplated her choices. She looked over at the wooden structure expecting whoever it was to just walk in. After a moment of nothing, Marie stood up and walked to the door. “Who is it?” she asked softly. There was a moment of silence before the person on the other end spoke. “Can I come in?” She recognized Logan’s gruff voice as she reached for the door knob.

They stood there staring at each other for a moment before Marie moved to let him enter. He walked slowly into the room, looking around. “Nice room,” he mumbled. She didn’t comment back, but went to sit beside the window as Logan stood in the middle of the room. The silence seemed to build as neither of them spoke. It was getting too much for Marie to take as she turned her attention fully on Logan.

“What are you doing in here Logan?” she asked tiredly.

Putting his hands on his hips, he took a long deep breath. “Marie, the professor’s right. You can’t leave.”

“You think I should stay?” she asked shocked.

“I think you should follow your instincts, but let me tell ya this,” he said walking closer and bending down in front of her. “This guy Xavier…he genuinely wants to help you…and that’s rare…for people like us.”

Marie was taken aback by the look in Logan’s eye. It was as if he were begging her to stay here. She felt the butterflies make their presence known again. Those intense hazel eyes were easy to get lost in and Marie felt herself falling deeply into them. “Why do you care?” she whispered.

“I don’t know,” he whispered back.

Minutes ticked away as they sat unmoving. The ceiling could have fallen down upon their heads and neither one of them would have blinked an eye.

“What’s your story Logan?” Marie’s voice cut through the silence like a lightning bolt through the sky. She watched him look away from her to the haunting moonlight outside. He did not answer her at first and she didn’t think he was going to.

Finally, in a low voice he said, “That’s another thing I don’t know darlin‘. All I can remember is the last fifteen years and it ain’t been pretty.” The sadness in his voice caused Marie to want to reach out and touch him. She saw the hard lines on his face and realized each one had a story of their own.

“After all I’ve been through, I think I can cope,” she said with a small smile.

There was that grunt again. “I’m not so sure about that,” he said getting to his feet. She watched him walk to the other side of the room and stare into the dresser mirror at her.

“I was kicked out of my own home by the two people that were supposed to love me the most,” she whispered. Marie didn’t know why she had just said that but felt that she needed to share something with him to get him to start talking.

Marie watched him take a deep breath before he spoke, “I woke up in the woods with no memory of who I was or where I came from.” She could hear the pain in his voice and it broke her heart.

“I hitched hiked my way into Canada with the lowest of men wanting only one thing in return for their services.” Marie shivered at the memories that came flooding back to her as she said it. She watched as a something past in Logan’s eyes but was gone before she could really study it.

“I lived like an animal for three years. I lost the human part of myself and almost never found it again…sometimes I wonder if I ever found it at all,” Logan said lost in thought.

Before Marie realized what she had done, she was standing behind Logan. Slowly she reached her gloved hand up to touch him lightly on the back.

“I followed Eric for one purpose and one purpose alone…I wanted to feel as though someone wanted me,” she said as the tears blinded her vision.

He slowly turned around to face her, reaching his hands up to her face. She wanted to pull away from him but something made her stay completely still. She felt as though both of them needed this right now. The texture of his hand confused Marie a little until she realized he was wearing gloves.

“I was made into the perfect weapon to be used by a mad man for purposes that I can‘t even remember,” his low voice said, cutting into her thoughts.

“I was made to feel nothing. Just an empty shell to be made to do whatever Eric wanted.” Tears were beginning to fall freely from her face.

She felt him wrap his large arms around her. No one had tried to hug her since her powers started and she felt herself give way to the pain. Sobbing, she clung to Logan as if she were a dieing man clinging to a life jacket. The loneliness of the past two years came crashing down upon her and she was scared to death that she wouldn’t find her way out.

“Shhh…its okay Marie. I’ve got ya.” Logan’s calming words were a beacon of light in the darkness of Marie’s soul. This man had come into her life, out of nowhere, at a time that she needed him the most. Did he even understand what he was doing for her? She thought that maybe he really didn’t know…or maybe he did, seeing as he knew what real pain was. He allowed her to sob into his shirt until every tear was shed and there was no more to fall.

Slowly, she leaned back and looked shyly up at Logan. “I’m such a girl huh?” she said laughing lightly. He gave her a small smile in response. When she tried to pull away from him, he stopped her. Looking up into his intense hazel eyes, she heard him whisper, “Marie…I’ll take care of you.”

She didn’t know what to say. All words were lost to her, in that moment, as the truth of his statement fell upon her.

“Promise?” she asked him in a low voice.

“Yeah…yeah I promise.”

At that moment her mind was made up. Marie felt that if Logan asked her to go around the world she would have done it. As it was, she would stay there…with him.

She felt herself pout a little as he untangled his arms from her. Logan’s chuckle filled the silent room as he noticed her frown.

“Don’t worry darlin, you’ll have my hands all over you tomorrow,” Logan said laughing.

Marie couldn’t help the shocked stare, and the way her mouth hung open at his words. ’Holy hell’, she thought.

“Your training starts tomorrow. I suggest you get some good sleep,” Logan said walking to the door. Realization made its ugly way into Marie’s fantasies. She had totally forgotten about the training session that started tomorrow. “Oh joy,” she said sarcastically.

Still chuckling, Logan said a goodnight and opened the door. Marie stopped him from walking out by calling his name. “Logan, I was wrong tonight.”

“About what?” he asked confused.

“When I said no one here protected me. That’s all you’ve been doing since the moment we met…so… um…thank you,” Marie said meekly.

Smirking, Logan said, “not a problem darlin’.” He stood there a few more seconds before slowly turning and walking out of Marie’s room.

That night, lying in her bed, Marie dreamed of a scared, lost man, stranded in the woods alone. That was the first time she dreamed about Logan.

The next morning Marie awoke with an eagerness for the day. She was ready in thirty minutes flat and she giggled to herself at how excited she was to spend the day with Logan. She felt more like a giddy school girl than a mature nineteen year old. The thought of Logan beating the crap out of her in their training session didn’t go unnoticed but she tried not to dwell on that too much.

Walking down to the first floor, Marie noticed a group of girls on the bottom step. She cringed at the thought of having to pass them, but kept her head high and didn’t look their way.

“Hey,” one of the girls called out.

Turning, Marie noticed it was the Asian girl talking to her. “I heard what Remy, Bobby and John did to you. I want you to know that I think that was completely wrong.”

Marie was shocked to hear this girl say that. After all, she was the enemy right? Who cared what happened to her? The Asian girl went on, “My name is Jubilation Lee but most people call me Jubes,” she said smiling.

“Rogue,” Marie said in an unsteady voice.

“Nice to meet you Rogue. If you need anything….shopping, dating, decorating advice…don’t hesitate to look me up.”

Marie thought for a moment that maybe she had woken up in an alternate universe. This couldn’t be the same place that it was yesterday. She nodded at the girl and continued walking. That was just too weird.

Coming to Xavier’s office, she could hear voices inside. She recognized them as being Logan and Xavier’s and they were in a heated discussion. “I don’t want it Charles. Things have changed so keep it.” Logan didn’t sound too thrilled and that peaked Marie’s interest. A part of her felt bad for eavesdropping on their conversation but she couldn’t help it. “Logan, you promised to do this and you have stuck by your word so take it.” She heard something hard hit Xavier’s desk. “I told you Chuck, I…don’t…want…it.” There was a moment of silence and Marie concluded that the conversation was over.

Knocking lightly on the door, she waited for Xavier to call her in. She thought that it was strange that he would even give her time to knock or that he didn’t realize she was standing at the door. ’I guess even the greatest of telepaths can get distracted’, she thought. Xavier called for her to enter and she did so.

Standing at the window, a very brooding Logan turned to look at her. She felt self conscious under his stare but didn’t turn away.

“Good morning Rogue. It’s good to see that you are still here with us,” Xavier said smiling.

“Well for right now it’s my only option so…,” she said stealing glances at Logan. He had turned back to stare out of the window. He was different from how he was last night…colder some how. She was starting to think that she had dreamed the whole thing. “Anyways, I was actually looking for Logan. I was wondering when you wanted to start training.”

“Get some breakfast and meet me in the Danger Room in an hour,” he said without looking at her.

She felt her good mood slowly crumbling. Turning back to look at Xavier, she saw a look of pity in his eyes and she turned quickly away from it. She didn’t need his pity.

Walking out into the hall, she went past the dining room straight to the Danger Room. She refused to meet the stares and sneers of the other mutants. Marie didn’t know how she expected Logan to act after their talk, but it certainly wasn’t what she just saw. It was like they were complete strangers. Confusion took over as she climbed down the long stairs of the basement. By the time she made it to the Danger Room, there was nothing but red fury. She was ready to kick her some Wolverine ass.

Marie was sitting on the floor of the Danger Room as Logan walked in. It had been an hour since she had seen him and her anger had dwindled a little. She had told herself a thousand times that maybe she had just caught him at a bad time. He and Xavier were deep in a discussion, that didn’t seem to be going good, before she walked in.

Looking from head to toe, Marie barely contained her sigh as she noticed Logan clad in his X-Men suit. If she would have met him on the battlefield as a brotherhood, she would not have had a chance. She would have been too damn distracted and by God he knew how good he looked in that damn suit, she was sure of it.

“Up on your feet,” he commanded.

She didn’t hesitate. The authoritative sound in his voice gave her no room to question. Today she would be training with the Wolverine and not Logan.

“There is a suit in the woman’s locker room for you. You have ten minutes to change and then be back here, got it?” Marie shook her head yes and walked off to change.

Ten minutes later she was walking back towards where Logan was standing. She found a matching black leather suit waiting for her. It fit perfectly and she wondered who’s it was. The look that came across Logan’s face, as he stared at her, was almost lost on Marie. She had only a second to see it. ‘Was that shock….lust? Holly fucking hell’, she thought to herself.

“Okay, the basics of any fight are to first…size up your opponent. Look for any weaknesses that you can see right off the bat. Come at me,” Logan said motioning for her to attack. Marie hesitated, not sure if she could move. “Marie!” Logan growled. Taking a deep breath, Marie went to strike.

The next moment found her looking up from the mat at a smug Logan. She felt the anger from earlier come crawling back and she wanted to wipe that smugness right off of his handsome face.

“Again,” he said as he prepared for her to attack him.

Thirty minutes later, Marie lay face down on the mat after the twentieth time of Logan beating her senseless. She did not move a muscle. His concerned voice was calling her name as he ran up to her. Smiling into the mat, she waited for the perfect time to strike. Marie found it as she felt him grab her arm to turn her over. In a matter of seconds, Marie reached behind Logan’s head and brought him down on the mat. As graceful as a cat, she jumped on top of him and brought her bare hand to within an inch of his face.

“Lesson number one sugar…never care about how much your ruff up your enemy,” Marie said panting.

The shocked look on Logan’s face turned to a smirk in an instant. Before she knew it, he had bucked her off of him and now she was the one with her back to the mat. Logan was sitting above her, mindful of his weight, as he held her arms above her. “Lesson number two darlin’…the cockiness should be left in the bedroom and not on the battlefield. You go in for the kill; you better damn well finish the job.”

Marie stood completely still as she felt how close he was to her bare face. Any sudden movement and they were both in a heap of trouble. Looking into Logan’s eyes, she noticed there was not a bit of concern at how close he was to death. As if in slow motion she watched his face come closer and closer to her own. Many emotions went swirling through her head at that moment. The strongest was fear. Had he completely lost his mind and forgotten about the deadly skin that he was mere inches from?

“Logan?” she whispered.

That seemed to bring him out of his trance as he quickly jumped off of her. Marie slowly got to her feet as she watched the confusion playing on Logan’s face. He wasn’t really looking at her, just through her.

“Th…that’s all for today,” he said as he turned to walk out of the Danger Room.

Marie stood there for what seemed like forever as she tried to figure out what had happened. “Did he try to kiss me?” she whispered out loud. In her mind, she replayed what had taken place on the mat and it definitely looked like he had tried to kiss her. Looking at the door he had went through, Marie couldn’t help the smile that played across her lips.

“It’s kind of weird seeing you wear that suit.”

Marie jumped at the voice behind her and turned to see Scott standing there. He was looking at her with a half smile on his face. She looked back at the door and wished Logan would come back through.

“I’m sorry but I was watching you and Logan from the control room,” he said with a knowing smile. Marie turned three shades of red as she averted her eyes from him. “You are very talented. They taught you well.”

“Thanks I think,” Marie said confused. Was he actually giving her a compliment? This day was just getting weirder. “I…um…I better be going,” she said turning to go to the locker room.

“Rogue, wait,” Scott called out.

Marie stopped but didn’t turn around. “I just wanted to say…that I’m sorry for the way you’ve been treated by me. Logan was right…it’s time for me to step up and be a leader.”

Slowly turning around, Marie took in this man standing a few feet away from her. He looked like he meant what he had said. She was confused at what made him have a change of heart. It was only a couple of days before that he wanted to blast her through the chest and now he was asking for her forgiveness. “Why?” she asked him lowly.

She watched Scott shrug his shoulders as he spoke, “I guess because he trusts you and he’s never really trusted any of us before. If you’ve earned Logan’s trust, you deserve all of our trust.” With that Scott turned and walked out of the Danger Room, leaving a very shocked Marie in his wake. Yes this day had gone to an all time high of weirdness. Shaking her head, Marie turned and went to the showers.

Finding her way to her favorite oak tree, Marie sat gently down under it. Her muscles were starting to cramp and she knew by the morning she would not be able to walk. Looking out over the sun washed lawn, she noticed the three boys that had attacked her. They were hard at work, picking up leaves and cutting the grass with grass clippers. Marie couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of their sunburned faces. She wondered why she thought this was funny when really they deserved to be kicked out for what they tried to do, but a part of her realized these boys had nowhere else to go. They were an outcast just like her and she wouldn’t wish any mutant, good or evil, to face a world that hated them.

Marie wasn’t sure if it was the weirdness of the day that had her in such a good mood or the fact that a certain someone had definitely tried to kiss her. All she knew is that she felt at peace for the first time in a long time. Closing her eyes, Marie soaked up the coolness of the air and the hotness of the sun. She was dressed in a thin long sleeved shirt and some sweatpants she found in the shower room. She wondered if there was ever going to be a day that she could sit under this oak tree with her bare arms and legs for the entire world to see. Slowly, Marie closed her mind to the things that could never be and found herself floating on the cloud of unconsciousness.

Through her haze of sleep, Marie felt someone shaking her lightly. She blinked her eyes rapidly to get them to focus and found Logan bending down beside her. He did not look very happy, but of course when did he? “I’ve been lookin’ for you all over the place kid. I thought you ran away or something,” he said sitting down beside her. There was that word again…kid. Marie thought for a moment that she should start hitting him every time he called her that. It would be good ways to get out her frustrations at hearing him call her that.

“Did you not think to look for me under the oak tree?” she asked groggily. She watched as his right eyebrow rose to his hairline. “Huh…and here I thought that’s exactly where I looked,” he said sarcastically. She poked him in the ribs with her elbow, laughing. She watched as a grin grew on his gorgeous face. Marie was relieved that he wasn’t acting weird around her.

“Well I was thinking since this is a Saturday night and most everyone is gone out…you and I could hang out together,” he said

“Do you think it’s a good idea for me to go off the mansion grounds, you know with the death threat and all?” she asked unsure.

“I wasn’t talkin’ about leavin’ darlin’…come on,” Logan said getting to his feet and reaching out to help Marie up. She took his hand and felt him pick her up with ease.

They walked back into the silent mansion, neither one breaking the silence around them with words. Marie followed Logan towards the rec room and she paused just outside of the door. Logan proceeded inside but stopped when he realized Marie wasn’t beside him.

“Marie?” he asked.

“I’ve been in this room before Logan. It doesn’t really have that good a memory for me.” She watched him walk back towards her, stopping just inches from her. He reached out and grabbed her gloved hand and for the second time she noticed that he also was wearing gloves. “Then we will just have to make some new memories.” She felt a strong emotion overtake her as she heard his soft words. This man never ceased to amaze her. “Come on,” he said as he gently pulled her into the room.

Upon entering, she noticed a case of beer and some food sitting on the coffee table in front of the couch. “Hum…dinner and a movie Logan? You don’t seem like the movie kind of guy.” She tried to hide the giggle that rang out as she heard him growl. Her giggle turned into an all out laugh as she watched him try to give her an angry face. “Laugh it up kid…it’s no movie we are gonna watch. There’s a good hockey game that I don’t want to miss,” Logan said walking to grab a beer.

Without thinking, Marie walked up to Logan and hit him on the arm. He looked shocked as he took a step back. “What the hell was that for?”

“Logan, I’m warning you now…every time you call me kid, I’m swinging!” she said crossing her arms over her chest.

She heard the growl first but it was too late. Marie felt herself being picked up and thrown onto the couch. She let out a little scream as she bounced off and landed on the floor. Sitting up, Marie heard Logan’s laughter bounce off the walls surrounding the rec room. “Well darlin’, if your swingin’ then I’m throwin’,” Logan said through laughs. Not to help her cause one bit, Marie stuck her tongue out at a very amused Logan.

Turning towards the coffee table, Marie examined the contents. “Molson beer, Doritos, bean dip, beef jerky…Beef jerky?” she asked as she rose up the bag.

“Hey, don’t knock it till ya try it.” Logan bent down and helped Marie to her feet. They both took a seat on the couch as Logan searched for the hockey game. “You know, you don’t have to do this. You can go out if you want,” Marie said shyly. Logan stopped flipping the channels and turned his attention towards Marie. “I’m right where I wanna be darlin’, don’t worry about it.” It still amazed her that he could be sweet when he wanted to be. Marie liked to think that he only showed her this side of him. Again, those thoughts were stopped fast. Logan was a very physical man and well…she was the total opposite.

“You okay?” Logan asked concerned.

Smiling, Marie shook her head yes. Looking away from Logan, she put those thoughts away for another time. Tonight she would have fun with the only friend she had here…the only friend she had anywhere.

Hours into the hockey game and two beef jerky bags later, Marie was still confused about how this sport worked. Logan, God bless him, was very patient in explaining how everything worked, but for the life of her she felt he was speaking a different language. He was just about to explain the scoring system when there was the sound of someone clearing their throat at the door.

Turning to look, Marie felt her good mood vanish. There, standing in all her glory was Jean. She was smiling sweetly, yet the smile was not for Marie. She looked over at Logan and saw something in his eyes that she wished she would have missed. “I thought I heard voices,” Jean said as she made her way to the couch. Marie wanted to slap that smile off the red head’s face as she took a seat beside Logan.

“Jeannie,” Logan said in a greeting. Her smile widen as she stared at him. Marie rolled her eyes and turned her attention back the game. “I hope you two don’t mind a little company. Scott went to bed early and I wasn’t really tired.” Marie watched, furious, as Jean reached over to the popcorn bowl in Logan’s lap. She made a point to dig her hands deep into the bowl and Marie saw red. ’Was this bitch really doing that? Miss I am so perfect please everyone bow down!’ Marie screamed in her head.

She heard Logan clearing his throat as he picked the bowl up and handed it to Jean. “Here ya go Jeannie, I’m done.” Marie felt a satisfactory smile caress her lips. She watched as fury, as red as Jean’s hair, shown through her eyes. At that moment the pieces to the puzzle fit together. Jean didn’t hate her because she was from the brotherhood or that she was a danger to everyone, she hated her because she was jealous. Something told Marie that before she came here Logan gave Jean his undivided attention and now that was all gone. ’I wonder what her husband thought about that?’ Marie asked herself.

“So Rogue…are you enjoying your time here?” Jean asked smugly. Marie was beginning to lose her cool. “I mean, I know it’s not the brotherhood and all but you are fitting in right?”

“Jean,” Logan said in a warning.

“What? Logan I’m just trying to get to know our newest member.” The smile that Jean plastered on her face was as fake as Marie had ever seen. “So tell me Rogue…did you leave a boyfriend behind? Oh yeah that’s right…you can’t really touch anyone…can you?”

“That’s it…Jean get the fuck out now!” Logan said angrily.

“No that’s okay…I’ll leave.” With that Marie stood up and made her way out of the room. She was so angry and she refused to give Jean the satisfaction of seeing how much she got to her. She could hear Logan getting to his feet to follow, but she didn’t dare turn back.

Coming out into the night air, Marie closed her eyes to get a hold of her emotions. She felt Logan walk up behind her and lay his hands on her shoulders. He tried to turn her around to face him but she fought against him. “Not yet,” she whispered. He stopped trying to turn her around but didn’t move his hands from her shoulders.

“Hey where are you going…I’m just warming up,” Jean said as she stepped out to meet them.

“Jean I swear to God I will shut you up myself.” Logan’s booming voice echoed throughout Marie’s body.

Turning around, she faced down the woman who had it in for her. “You want a piece of me Jean…come and get it,” she said taking off her gloves.

The smile grew bigger on Jean’s face as Marie took a step towards her. “Stupid girl! I could crush you before you ever got within a foot of me. No, I would rather hurt you another way.” Marie was confused by what Jean had said. She watched the red head turn her eyes towards Logan. “What would hurt you the most I wonder?” Jean asked rhetorically. Marie felt Logan tense beside her and looked over to see pure rage dripping from his face. “Jean!” he growled.

All anger drained from Marie as she felt that Jean was fixing to tell her something she didn’t want to hear.

“Did you honestly think that he befriended you because he wanted to? You are not that special sweetheart. Money…now that would make a person do something they could care less about doing before. Isn’t that right Logan?”

“FUCK YOU JEAN!” Logan screamed.

“Oh no honey…you already did that,” Jean said smiling. Marie was stunned. The words were trying to make sense in her brain but she couldn’t understand them. Looking over to Logan for some guidance, the only thing she saw was shame. And then it hit her. The conversation she had overheard today in Xavier’s office was about this.

“The professor paid you to befriend me?” she whispered in shock.

Turning slowly to face Logan, she watched as he closed his eyes. He did not have to answer her question for it was written all over his face. The one person, the one friend that she had was nothing more than a joke. This past week had been nothing more than a man making good on a bribe.

Without another word, Marie turned and headed back into the mansion. As she passed Jean, she heard the woman laugh. Marie’s steps faltered as she fought against the urged to drain the bitch dry. She needed to get to her room before she lost all control.

Coming towards the stairs, she saw the front door open as a group of kids strolled in. She watched as the Jubilation Lee or Jubes looked over towards her. “Rogue,” she called out.

Marie didn’t want to face anyone at the moment as she turned to run up the stairs.

Getting to her room just in time, she slammed the door behind her and slid to the floor. She did not cry. There were no tears big enough to express the emptiness she was feeling. Marie felt that she should been used to such things by now. She was a freak among freaks and no one would ever accept her. If only she wouldn’t have allowed herself to know what it felt like to have a kindred spirit in this world, then she wouldn’t have known what it was like to lose something special.

There was a knock on the door and Marie jumped back as if burned. “Marie, let me in. We need to talk.”

Logan was the last person on this earth that she wanted to talk to. She would rather face Eric than have to deal with what just happened. “Go away!” she said through clenched teeth.

There was a deep sigh as she heard Logan’s soft voice coming through the door. “You can either let me in now or face me in the morning…either way I’m gonna camp out beside your door.”

Getting to her feet, Marie unlocked the door and pushed it opened. She turned around and walked towards the window. Facing him right now would do nothing but bring the river of tears flowing out of her. She heard him walk in and close the door behind him. Neither one spoke for what seemed like an eternity to Marie.

“Marie…I’m…” She turned around, hatred and pain radiating off of her in waves. “Don’t you dare say it Logan. What are you sorry for? Are you sorry for lying to me and destroying what little faith I had in this place, or are you sorry that you got caught? Either way it doesn’t help your cause at all,” she said heatedly.

Marie watched as Logan deflated. His shoulders slumped as his large frame sat on her bed. He looked every bit the lost man that she had dreamed about the night before. “I’m not saying I’m perfect Marie. I’m even an asshole but I swear to you that I gave the money back. Did I take it from Xavier? Yeah I did. I’m not denying that. I took it before I really knew you and I gave it back after I realized you were the only real thing I had in this place.”

She cursed the tears making an appearance. His words rang true yet she couldn’t see past the hurt and pain. Everyone had gotten off so damn easy, in this place, when they hurt her. Logan, the one person that she thought she could trust was no different from everyone else. She refused to let him off as easy. She had held him to a higher standard and he had let her down.

“You should have kept the money Logan because you have nothing now,” she sobbed.

The look on his face as he brought it up to meet hers would be etched in her memory for years to come. “You don’t mean that,” he whispered.

All of the things she told him, the hurtful, painful memories that she had confided in a man paid to listen to her burned into her mind so heavy that she felt rage in its purest form.

“It was probably all a lie, wasn‘t Logan…all of the horrible things you told me about yourself? Did you take a day to just think that up so I would open up to you? Did you tell me those things just to get me to talking? Did you leave that night with some good laughs at my expense?”

She jumped back as he stood up abruptly, staring angrily at her. “Oh that’s real good Marie. Every…single…thing I told you that night was the truth. How DARE you even question that,” he yelled.

Marie stared at Logan’s angry face and realized she had gone too far. In her anger she wanted to make him hurt just as much as she was. She had dug into the wounds that were Logan’s and poured salt everywhere. “Please just go,” she whispered.

“FINE!” He screamed as he walked to the door.

As he opened it, he stopped and turned towards her as he spoke, “I know what I did was wrong. I know I hurt you and I wish that I could take it back. I gave that money back because for once in my life I found someone that meant more to me than my own self. I’ve never been a good person Marie, maybe it’s one of the reasons I took that money, but I found something that made me want to be a better person.”

Looking over at Logan, she saw a sadness, which took her breath away. “It’s only fitting that that one thing be taken away from me as well. You’d think I’d be used to it by now.” She wanted to stop him from leaving, but all she did was watch him go.

Long after Logan had left, Marie sat at her window looking out into the emptiness of the night. She wondered several times during the long hours why she continued to stay. It would be so easy to just pack up her things and leave. No one would know she was gone…no one would care. The fact that Eric wanted to kill her didn’t even play into her mind. She was dead either way. No one could live like this, isolated from the world and its inhabitants. Marie knew that she would never truly be welcomed here or any other place so what was the point.

There was just one problem…each time she got up to pack her things, she heard a little voice in her head saying ’I’ll take care of you’. No matter how mad she was at Logan, she couldn’t get past the soft voice telling her over and over that someone was willing to take care of the untouchable girl.

Ray’s of sunlight streamed in through the window and warmed Marie’s face as she welcomed another day. She wasn’t looking forward to what she was about to do. Marie realized that she would have to face the professor sooner or later and it made her sick to her stomach. Getting up from her makeshift bed, Marie headed towards her door. She was still wearing the thin long sleeve t-shirt and sweatpants that she was wearing the night before but she didn’t care.

Making her way to Xavier’s door, she didn’t bother knocking. Pulling the door open, she walked in to stare at the man. What caught her eye, made her take a step back. Logan sat on the professor’s couch looking as if he had stayed up all night. He was still in the same clothes like she was.

“Good morning Rogue. I am glad you stopped by. Seems we have a lot to talk about and I have a few things to apologize for,” the professor’s deep voice said. Logan stood up to walk out but the professor stopped him. “Logan, I think you should stay since this involves you as well.”

She turned away from Logan as he stared at her. “I don’t think my presence is welcomed right now Chuck.”

“Rogue, I am truly sorry that you had to find out about our arrangement the way you did.” Marie looked sharply at the professor’s choice of words.

“Arrangement? That’s a good word to use for it Xavier. I could think of a few more things to call it as well,” she said angrily. “Did you really think I wasn’t worthy to be accepted here? You had to start paying people to be friends with me?” Marie shed no tears today. There were none left after last night.

“Rogue that is not why I did it. I needed someone that wouldn’t judge you before meeting you. Everyone was either scared or upset that you were here. I thought that if I could get Logan to talk to with you it would help the others to follow suit since it’s very hard to earn Logan’s trust.”

“And you believed it wouldn’t have happened naturally…without the bribe?” Marie scoffed. “You know what, don’t answer that. I think I already know the answer,” she said turning towards a quiet Logan.

“You don’t know anything,” she heard him whisper.

“Excuse me?” Marie asked turning her whole body towards Logan, Xavier fully forgotten. “Then tell me Logan, would you have given a damn about getting to know me or even given me the time of day without something in it for you?”

‘I’ll take care of you’, she silently whimpered at the voice that whispered in her head.

“I don’t regret receiving the opportunity to get to know ya darlin’, just the way I went about doing it,” came Logan’s response.

“Rogue, find the strength to forgive and put this behind you. We both made a mistake to which we are very sorry. I should have allowed you two to meet and become friends on your own. He did not keep the money Rogue. That has to count for something.”

“She already knows all of this Chuck. It doesn’t matter to her and I guess it shouldn’t,” Logan spoke.

Marie watched him quietly turn and walk out of the office. A part of her wanted to run and stop him, the other part wanted him to soak in his sorrow. These two sides waged war inside of her as she stayed where she was. Xavier’s deep sigh brought her out of her internal war and she turned to look at the man. She could see all of his years weighing heavily upon his shoulders.

Walking towards one of the chairs in front of his desk, Marie sat down defeated. “It’s not really about the money Xavier; it’s more about the fact that I’m not sure that I know him. The real him,” she whispered.

“Rogue, I think you are the only one that has ever been close enough to know him. All I did was offer him money to talk to you that one night, not to befriend you. That, my dear, was something that Logan did himself. The fact that he let someone get close to him speaks a lot about you and what he feels for you.”

She let that sink in. Why would he not tell her that bit of information? All he was paid to do was talk to her not make her feel like she had a friend. “He never told me that,” she said confused.

“Maybe he was hoping you would figure it out on your own…or maybe that you would have already realized it. Besides, would you really have believed him if he would have told you?”

“Damn,” Marie breathed.

Walking the halls of the mansion, Marie’s mind was in overload. She was thinking about what Xavier told her. Logan had gone beyond what he was paid to do. The only question left to ask was why. And why would he not tell her the truth? Would she really have believed him? Marie was starting to feel worse by the minute. She decided that she would find him and make things right. He would be given the opportunity to tell his side of the story and then she would forgive him. Marie just hoped she wasn’t too late to salvage what was left between them.

She walked briskly into the garage, hoping against hope that he would be there. Coming to the door, she called his name, but there was no answer. She looked around the wide space but there was no one but her in the room. Turning on her heels, she walked up the stairs towards his room. The knock on the door went unanswered. Marie was starting to get very annoyed. “Come on Logan,” she whispered at the door. After a few minutes of knocking and getting no reply, Marie turned and walked towards the back yard. ‘Maybe he was under the oak tree’, she thought.

The sunlight shown through the clouds as Marie made her way towards the tree. She could see someone’s silhouette but couldn’t make out who it was. Holding her hand to her eyes, Marie let out a breath she didn’t know that she was holding. Logan sat under the tree, resting his head against the wood. Coming closer, Marie realized his eyes were closed. She eased her body down beside his large frame and rested her head back like he was doing. Looking up into the sky, she watched the clouds moving by. At that moment she envied Storm for being able to control something so amazing. She contemplated the words to say to Logan, but nothing felt right. She didn’t believe for a second that he didn’t know she was there. They were sitting close together, and yet he didn’t try to move. ‘That was a good sign right?’ she said to herself.

“I can leave if you want,” Logan’s gruff voice spoke.

“That’s not what I want Logan,” Marie said, looking over at him. He continued to keep his eyes closed as she stared at him.

“Really? I thought that would be exactly what you wanted.” She didn’t really know what she wanted, but one thing was for sure…she didn’t want him to leave.

After several moments of silence Marie asked quietly, “When did you realize that you wanted to give the money back?”

He didn’t answer her at first. Logan sat as still as one human…or mutant could be. For a moment Marie thought that maybe he had fallen asleep. He had looked so tired in Xavier’s office earlier.

The minutes ticked away and Marie had decided she wasn’t going to get an answer from him. She decided to leave Logan to his dreams and hoped that maybe she could find him again later.

Rising to her feet, she took a couple of steps towards the mansion. The sound of his voice, speaking just above a whisper, stopped her from moving another step. “The moment you trusted me enough to tell me your secrets…and didn’t turn away in disgust…as I told you mine.”

Turning around slowly to face him, she was met with those beautiful hazel eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me the whole truth Logan? Why didn’t you tell me what exactly Xavier paid you to do?” Marie asked.

“Would it have made a difference Marie? You had your mind pretty well made up”

“Is that what you think? Then why am I here now?” she said.

“Why are you here? I thought you would have been through with me by now,” Logan mumbled.

“I’m here because I need to know there was more to you than just a man that was making money. I need to know that the Logan I have seen and spent time with is the real you. I need to know that the person who promised to take care of me is real.” Marie’s voice cracked with emotion as she said the last part.

She watched him stand up and take a step towards her and then stop. She saw the emotions playing in his eyes but she needed to hear the words come from his mouth. If Logan told her that he meant every word, she would believe him, no questions asked. “Marie…I swear….” he started.

“Hey you two, the professor wants to meet with everyone in his office right now.” Marie closed her eyes, annoyed, as Jubes’ voice interrupted Logan.

“Not now yellow…we are in the middle of something,” Logan growled.

“Sorry Wolvie! I come on strict orders from the professor. Besides, I think you two might want to hear what he has to say…seeing as it’s about Rogue.”

Marie turned to meet the Asian beauty with a confused look. “He wants to talk about me?” Jubes shook her head yes and turned to leave. The first thought that entered Marie’s mind was that the professor had found more information on Eric’s plan to kill her. She was suddenly gripped with fear as she wondered what could be coming next.

“Come on darlin‘,” Logan said putting his hand on the small of her back. She let him lead her back into the mansion towards Xavier’s office. Every step Marie took made her heart pound harder.

Walking into the room, Marie noticed that every X-Man was there. All eyes turned towards her and Logan as they walked over to the couch to sit down. “Well, now that everyone is here I would like to bring this meeting to order,” Xavier said. “As all of you know, I have asked Rogue to stay here with us as a permanent member of this family. Now some of you have not taken to well to this situation and I will tell you right now that that must end.” His voice held an air of authority that Marie guessed no one would disobey. “It will be hard to have spiteful feelings for one of your comrades on the battle field…that is if she accepts my offer to join the X-Men.”

Marie’s eyes went wide as what Xavier was saying sunk in. ’Did he really just ask me to be a part of the team?’ Damn, she did not see this coming and neither did some of the others in the room as they gasped. “Rogue, of course you have every right to turn me down, but I would love for you to be an X-Man. I’ve heard from several people that you are a great fighter,” Xavier said smiling.

“Charles you can’t be serious. Tell me you’re joking,” Jean said surprised.

Turning his head towards the red head, his look turned dark. “Do you think I would joke about something like this Jean? I am dead serious. I want Rogue to be a part of the team, if she wants to be.” Marie saw confusion play on Jean’s face. She was willing to take a wild guess and say that Xavier had never spoken to her like that before.

“It’s too dangerous professor. How do we know that she isn’t here as a spy for Magneto? She could kill us all before we so much as realized what was going on and now you are asking us to accept her on the team? I don’t know if I can do that,” John said angrily.

“And I will remind you that you are one mistake away from being kicked out of this place John. After the incident the other night, you will have to excuse me if I don’t hold your opinion as being too reliable,” Xavier shot back.

Marie saw John’s face turn beet red as he looked away from his mentor.

“I think she would make an excellent addition to the team. She’s a smart fighter and I would feel safe with her by my side,” Scott spoke. Marie turned her attention over to the leader and gave him a smile. It was good to know that at least one person was on her side.

“I agree with Scott. She needs a little practice but overall she would be a great X-Man.” Slowly turning her attention to Logan, Marie mouthed a thank you to him. He gave her a small wink as he turned his attention back to Xavier.

“Heck yeah! We need more estrogen on this damn team,” Jubes blurted out. Marie let out a laugh at the strange girl in yellow. She was starting to understand why Logan had called her yellow earlier. The girl was practically bathed in the bright color.

“Rogue, I will leave it up to you whether this is something that you want but if it is, you will start out on the Beta team. This group consists of the people your age who are working their way up to Alfa team. You will be able to do missions and train with Logan and when you are ready, you will be one of the X-Men,” Xavier said lightly.

Marie thought over her options as everyone waited for her answer. She wasn’t stupid enough to think that she had everyone’s trust, but maybe this could be a big step towards making her feel more welcomed. She wanted a chance to show these people that she was not here to stab them in the back and that they really could trust her. Now she had her chance.

“Thank you Xavier, I’m really flattered and I would love to accept her invitation to join the team,” Marie said smiling. There were some mumbles of disapproval mixed with cheers. Maybe things would really start looking up.

“Congratulations darlin‘,” Logan said grinning. She smiled brightly at him as he used her favorite term of endearment. Marie felt the depressive atmosphere lift its ugly head away from them for a moment. Maybe they would be okay after all. Marie found herself getting lost in those hazel eyes as Logan stared at her.

“Since that is settled, I want Rogue to see how the Beta team works. Scott, take the team to the Danger Room and run a scenario with them. Rogue, I would like you to join them and make yourself get used to working with the others.” Both Marie and Scott shook their heads, agreeing to do as Xavier asked. “Jean, Logan and I have business to attend to in the city this afternoon. We will be back shortly.”

“Not a chance Chuck, I want to watch the Beta team. I‘ve trained them so it‘s only fair that I get to see them in action,” Logan said, shaking his head.

“I’m sorry Logan but I really need you on this assignment with me.”

“So! Get someone else,” Logan said gruffly.

“Logan, I do not want to argue with you…please just trust me on this. I need you with me on this one,” Xavier said exasperated.

“Whatever,” Logan mumbled.

Marie tried not to dwell on the fact that Xavier had said Jean’s name as well. The thought of her and Logan together pissed her off…even if Xavier would be there. She had to set her feelings aside; obviously it was something of importance to Xavier. Marie just hoped that bitch kept her hands to herself.

“Okay, I guess that takes care of everything for now. Beta team, you can leave to get ready for training. Logan and Jean, we will leave as soon as possible,” Xavier said.

There was so much unsaid between Marie and Logan and she really wished they had enough time to talk. It seemed that Xavier was in a hurry, so their talk would have to wait. She watched Logan get to his feet and turn to look down at her.

“When I get back, you and I have a lot to talk about. Meet me at the Oak tree when you’re done okay?” Logan asked softly.

“Okay,” Marie whispered.

Logan walked to the door and turned to look back at her. He gave her one of his trademark grins as he slipped out the door. Marie was shaken out of her thoughts as she felt someone plop down beside her. Looking over, she saw Jubes giving her a huge smile.

“You have to tell me your secrete Rogue. I’ve been trying to tame that man since the moment his handsome ass walked through Xavier’s door,” she said winking.

Marie couldn’t cover red cheeks fast enough. She wouldn’t say that she had tamed Logan, really she didn’t know what to expect from the talk they would soon have.

She followed Jubes into the women’s locker room and noticed another girl getting ready. “Hey kitty! I want you to meet Rogue…officially. Rogue, this is Kitty…Kitty, this is Rogue,” Jubes said, pointing between the two girls.

“Hi,” Kitty said shyly.

“Nice to meet you,” Marie said with a smile.

The three girls stood around awkwardly until finally Kitty turned and walked out. “You have to look over Kitty. She is mutant challenged. I swear that girl gets embarrassed at the drop of a hat.”

Marie wasn’t quite sure that it was embarrassment that made Kitty run out of the locker room. It was probably more like fear. She would have to make a point to relieve some of the fears these people had towards her since she was a part of the team now.

As they were getting ready, Marie wondered how this whole Danger room worked. She remembered seeing Logan and the beta team during training a couple of days ago and it all looked so real. “Hey Jubes…this scenario thing…how real is it? Can you get hurt or is it just nothing?” Marie asked.

Jubes thought for a moment before answering. “Have you ever seen The Matrix?”

“Yeah…once,” Marie answered.

“Well it’s kind of like that. Being in the Danger Room, running a scenario, is like being in the Matrix. It’s not really real but your mind makes it real. So I guess to answer your question…yes you can get hurt…killed even, but no one has ever gotten seriously hurt or anything. Logan is the only one that has tested the Danger Room’s capability to the max and well, he can survive just about anything!” Jubes said shrugging her shoulders.

“So if you bleed in the scenario, you aren’t really bleeding in real life?”

“Oh no, you will actually. Remember the brain thinks it’s real and the body responds to that. Seriously Rogue, do not worry about it. Scott knows that you have never been trained on the Danger Room so he will take it pretty easy on us today.”

With that Jubes turned around and headed back towards the group waiting outside. Marie wasn’t sure she was ready for this but she had to pull it together to show these people that she could hold her own. She followed Jubes out and met the group in the middle of the huge circular room. Looking up to the control room, Marie saw Scott looking down at them. She had a set of earphones on that was linked to him. He could give them commands from where he was.

“Ok guys, listen up. Your objective today is to take the white flag that represents your team to the opposite end of the room. You have exactly thirty minutes to complete this mission. Remember to work together to get the job done. If one of you gets in trouble, it’s up to each and every one of you to help them get out. You have thirty seconds to get ready before I start the program,” Scott said through the earphones.

Taking a deep breath, Marie steadied her nerves. The lights started to dim as everyone took their positions. Out of the corner of her eye, Marie caught someone walk in to where Scott was. Looking up to see who it was, Marie stared in confusion. Logan was looking down at her with a big grin on his face.

“Jesus Logan, you scared the hell out of me,” Scott said.

How was she suppose to concentrate on what she was doing, knowing Logan was watching. Wait, wasn’t he supposed to be somewhere with the professor?

Still staring, at the two men, Marie noticed something off about Logan. There was something not quite right about him and it shocked her that she could tell from where she was. She watched him walk up behind Scott and pull something from behind his back.

Terror overtook Marie as she screamed out to an unsuspecting Scott. It was not fast enough and Marie watched as Logan hit Scott over the head with a blunt object. The fearless leader hit the ground without moving another muscle. The sound of his head hitting the floor echoed through the earphone into each one of their ears.

“What the hell?” she heard Bobby whisper.

They all were staring wide eyed at Logan as he raised his hand and gave them a wave. Marie was missing something, she just knew it. This wasn’t Logan and yet this thing seemed so familiar. It was the eyes. A feeling of dread hit her as the realization of what she was missing came crashing down upon her. Marie would be able to recognize the eyes anywhere…the eyes of Mystique.

“Hello Rogue, I have a message for you,” Mystique said in Logan’s voice.

Moments later, a voice spoke throughout the danger room and Marie started to shake.

Eric’s voice pierced the heart of Marie. Trembling, she realized that they were trapped.

“Run!” Marie whispered frantically to the others.

Everyone took off towards the entrance to the Danger Room. Before they could reach it, the ground began to shake. Marie lost her balance and fell as the floor rumbled to life. Looking around her, she watched as the circular room disappeared into a hellish scene. A city, so torn apart and blazing with fire, greeted the wide eyes of Marie. The earthquake like movement seemed to be picking up strength as she tried to get to her feet. She could hear the others struggling to regain their footing as well. Through the light of the blazing fires around them, Marie watched as the ground cracked underneath them.

“MOVE!” she screamed over the noise.

Everyone jumped in different directions to get out of the way of the opening whole. Marie ran as fast as she could to where Jubes and Kitty were struggling to stand up. Reaching them, she grabbed their arms and started to run. Not knowing exactly where to go, Marie headed towards a flipped car. Reaching the other side, the three girls huddled down for shelter.

Looking over to the entrance, Marie noticed a crater the size of a football field, in the way, making it really hard for them to reach it on foot.

“Oh my God, what are we going to do?” Kitty cried.

Marie ignored the question as she searched for the guys. She found Booby and John a few cars down from them. Remy, Warren, and Kurt were nowhere to be seen. The sound of metal hitting metal brought her attention away from the searching to see something unthinkable.

Coming from the large crater was a demon straight from the pits of hell. The thing’s red eyes stared at her as its enormous head came into view. She heard the two girls whimper beside her.

“You see Rogue; you wanted to follow Xavier and his teachings over that of Eric’s. What better way to kill you and your miserable friends than with the creatures that will haunt your dreams in the future. These things that you see are no illusion. Our government is producing them as we speak.” Mystique said.

Marie was confused. Why would the government create such things? It wasn’t making any sense to her frazzled brain. The head, of the creature was completely out and it measured that of an eighteen wheeler. The shoulders alone were enough to destroy city block after city block if it rammed into the buildings. It was so large, yet graceful as it pulled itself out of the crater. Its feet could crush a mass of people in just mere seconds.

“Say hello to the future…to the sentinels Rogue. The things that keep Xavier awake at night yet he refuses to let the one’s following him know about. The reason is he fears that his tolerance for the humans will lead to this.”

‘SHUT UP YOU BITCH!” Marie screamed into the microphone. Looking up towards the control room, she noticed that Mystique had changed from Logan’s form to her own. She was smiling and laughing at their predicament. They had to think of something fast or they would all be dead in moments.

“Jubes…do you have your cell phone?” Marie whispered.

“Y…yes, why?”

Holding out her hand, Marie said, “Give it to me.”

She reached out and took the cell phone from Jubes’ trembling hand as she searched for Xavier’s number. Finding it, she snatched the headphones off and hit the button to dial the number. As she brought it up to her ears, Marie cursed aloud. The operator came on the line to inform her that there was no signal.

Throwing the phone down, Marie picked her headset back up and put it on.

“Ok Mystique…Eric wants me dead, that’s fine, but you have to let the other’s go. They have nothing to do with this,” Marie begged. Laughter filled her ears as Marie looked back towards the sentinel.

Before Mystique could speak, there was another grinding noise to Maries left, and she turned to see her worst nightmare just getting worse. Out of the ashes of the broken city street raised another red eyed creature. Another sound in front of her made her whip her head to look. Huge, red eyes were coming up from every direction as Marie realized they were trapped.

There was only one way out of here and it didn’t have very good odds.

“Okay, everyone listen up! We are going to have to pull together and fight them with our powers. We are strong enough as one unit to do this. Throw everything you got at them and don’t stop till every last one is a heap of rubble on the ground!” Marie screamed. “On the count of three, ONE….TWO….THREEE!”

Marie pulled herself to her feet and charged into the middle of the enormous sentinels. She heard Jubes and Kitty following her as all eight people made it. Forming a large circle, Marie ordered everyone to start throwing everything they had and prayed it worked.

For a moment, it did work as the first sentinel broke under the pressure of seven mutations hitting it square in the chest. With a horrid sound, the creature fell to the ground in a heap of metal and sparks. ’One down, three to go’, Marie thought.

Before they could turn towards the next sentinel, Marie saw a beam of red light shoot out of the machines hand, striking Remy and Warren and throwing them back a good twenty yards. The other two sentinels started walking towards where the group was standing. Fire and ice ran together in a melody of destruction towards the oncoming sentinels. It did not so much as falter the creature’s steps as it moved forward. Marie desperately searched for a way out of this nightmare.

“We have to get to Remy and Warren. They could be seriously hurt,” Kitty cried. Without another word the group ran towards their fallen comrades. Remy was groaning loudly as he tried to sit up, but Warren didn’t move. Marie thought the worse before she even got to the fallen angel. Leaning down beside him, she noticed his chest rising with breath and sighed with relief.

The sound of the sentinels came closer to the group as they all looked up to see them being surrounded again. Slowly, they watched as one of the enormous creatures turned his palm towards them. The red laser was blinding to Marie. She grabbed Warren and pulled with everything she had as the beam of light fell upon them. Inches separated Marie from the deadly path of the sentinel’s strike, as she lay with her back to the cold ground. Jerking her head up at the sound of a scream, Marie watched in horror as John was struck by the laser. Upon watching his friend get hit, Bobby screamed and charged at the sentinel. He didn’t have a chance as the machine reached down, with his had, and sent Bobby flying towards his fallen friend.

They did not have a chance against these three sentinels and the realization of that made Marie tremble in fear. The screams of Jubes and Kitty caught her attention as she watched them run away from the approaching machines. Kurt grabbed the two girls and disappeared. Looking around frantically for them, Marie spotted them a safe distance away. In that instance, all eyes of the sentinels were trained on her. She realized that she had to get them away from the fallen members of the beta team and fast.

Getting to her feet, Marie started running towards a congested area of overturned cars and rubble. She could hear the machines behind her and was relieved that her plan was working. Remy, Warren, John and Bobby were forgotten in the sentinel’s minds.

Marie ran to a car and jumped behind it for cover. If only she could have just a few moments to think of a plan. The sound that came over the headset gave her no time to think at all.

“WHAT THE HELL!” Logan’s shocked voice rang out.

Looking up at the control room, Marie expected to see Mystique in Logan’s form, but what she saw made her heart leap out of her chest. There, looking down upon them was the real Logan, accompanied by the professor. Jean was slowly helping Scott to his feet. Mystique was no where to be found.

“Logan, help us,” Marie whispered frantically.

Her whispers were cut short as she felt the car, which she was hiding behind disappear into a heap of torn mental and twisted parts. Marie jumped back as the sentinel sent its foot down towards her. The impact made her lose her footing and she fell to the ground. Metallic fingers circled her body as the sentinel picked her up. She fought against the hand holding her, but there was no use, she couldn‘t break through the hold.

Looking towards the control room, she saw fear in Logan’s eyes as he watched frozen where he stood.

Everything happened in slow motion to Marie’s frazzled mind. One minute she was looking at a fearful Logan and the next she was flying through the air. The world seemed to catch up with time as her body came crashing down to earth. For a moment, everything was dark, and she wondered if she was conscious. The sentinel had discarded her as if she were nothing more than trash. Every single pore in her body seemed to scream out in pain as she came back to the present. Opening her mouth to scream, nothing came out but air.

“NOOOO,” Logan roared over the headset.

The sound of shattered glass could be heard from above her, yet the only thing Marie could focus on was the pain. Her right side burned as if it were on fire. Slowly looking down at her body, Marie finally let out a scream. There, sticking out of her side was a piece of wood in the shape of a spear. It had gone all the way through her. She watched horrified as her blood pooled around her. ‘This seems so real and my God it feels real too’, she thought.

Her breathing was ragged as if she couldn’t get enough oxygen. Marie could hear Logan’s booming growl and the sound of the sentinels being turn apart. Stealing a glance up, she watched Logan take down one of the machines and it was merciless. He tore something a part that was twenty times his size in only a matter of minutes.

“Oh my God, Rogue!” Marie turned her eyes away from Logan to see Jubes, Kitty and Kurt running towards her. She was trying to give Jubes and Kitty a reassuring smile but a wave of pain hit her hard and she screamed. Jubes fell at her side and grabbed her hand, whispering words of comfort.

“Just an illusion huh?” Marie whispered weakly.

“Kurt, go and check on Remy and Warren. Kitty you go check on Bobby and John. I’ll stay here with Rogue,” Jubes commanded.

Kurt and Kitty were staring at the wooden spear sticking out of Marie’s side. Neither one of them moved as if they were in a trance.

“GO! Now!” Jubes yelled.

Getting to their feet, each ran off to check on the others. Marie looked back at Jubes and watched the Asian girl try to smile. It was forced and that told her everything she needed to know. Her situation was not good. “It’s okay Rogue, hold on a few more seconds. Logan and the professor are taking care of those things.”

She could hear the pure rage of Logan’s screams as he fought the sentinels. The sound was much farther away from her as if she were back in that tunnel. ‘Is this what it feels like to die?’ she wondered. The pain was slowly beginning to turn into a feeling of numbness and Marie didn’t know whether to be thankful or more frightened.

Minutes later, she heard footsteps coming towards her and watched as Jubes face was replaced with Logan’s in her vision. She saw the look of pain in his face, as he looked towards her side. Her breathing was ragged and she knew that she had punctured a lung.

“Future 2012 abort!” the professor yelled.

Marie was in too much pain to watch as the room turned back to its normal circular shape. Gone were the burning building, cars, and sentinels. The only thing left were the broken bodies of the beta team.

Looking back down, Marie was shocked to see the wooden spear gone but the blood remained.

“Somebody help me!” Logan yelled frantically.

Marie felt herself losing consciousness and closed her eyes to enjoy it. “NO! Marie, no! Stay with me darlin’, come on,” Logan pleaded as he picked her up and brought her to his chest. She felt at peace for the first time in a long time.

Looking past Logan, Marie saw a light becoming brighter and brighter. She had always laughed at hearing people say that when you die you see the light, but now she was starting to think differently. It was so beautiful and she could feel the warmth of it touch her skin. Marie longed to be surrounded in its protection and tried to reach for it, yet she didn’t have the strength to raise her hand.

“Marie, look at me,” Logan whispered.

Turning her head away from the light, Marie looked deep into the hazel eyes of Logan. “It’s okay Logan. I’m not afraid anymore,” Marie whispered weakly.

His eyes went wide at her words and he held on tighter. “But I am Marie!”

She noticed his tears first before she noticed what he was starting to do. At first it didn’t really register and then his lips were mere inches away from her. “I’m gonna make it better darlin’,” he said as he gently kissed her lips.

She had only a fraction of a second to relish the soft touch of Logan before she closed her eyes and went limp in his arms. Marie felt nothing as the moment of death overtook her.

Marie noticed that she was standing, surrounded by the bright light. She looked down at herself and saw that she was still wearing the black leather X-man suit. Turning around, she saw Logan holding her in his arms. His gut wrenching scream filled her ears and tore at her heart. “NO! Don’t you dare leave me,” he screamed at her lifeless body. She watched him bring his face down to lay upon her own as he whispered in her ear, “I’ve waited my whole life for you Marie. Breathe darlin’, please just take one breath.”

And then she felt it. A pain so deep that it overshadowed the pain she felt in her side. Thoughts and memories of Logan came crashing into her mind. She tried to scream but nothing came out. Opening her eyes wide, Marie met Logan’s painful stare. The veins were popping out of his face and neck as memories of labs and pain filled her thoughts. Marie knew in an instant what was happening. He was pushing life back into her broken body. The feeling of his strength flowed throughout her as he continued to hold on.

Love, hate, shame, anger, rage and caring flowed through Marie as she battled against Logan to let her go. He held on tightly and refused to even budge. Marie could hear his voice inside her head, yet it was different from when Cody had touched her. Logan was not angry with her. She heard the voice breathe deeply as he came to rest inside her head. “It worked,” he whispered.

Logan’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and he finally released her. She watched him fall to the ground as he started to convulse.

Marie grabbed her head as visions and memories assaulted her mind. She was drowning in a tank of green water as men cheered and celebrated around her. Her whole body felt as if it was being torn apart, not one moment of peace could she find. She opened her mouth to scream and water filled it instantly. Marie tried to cough but only tasted the bitter green water. She frantically tried to fight her way to the surface but it was no use, she was trapped in its hell. Rage engulfed her in an instant and she let herself be overcome by it. Breaking the restraints that held her down, she forced her way up. A blood curdling scream came out of her mouth as the men who had been celebrating started running for their lives. Blood, she was out for their blood and there would be no mercy.

It was a pain worse than the sickening green water fell upon her hands as she looked down at them. Long, indestructible claws were sticking out of her knuckles while her blood dripped from the wounds. Slowly raising her head back up, she growled at the retreating backs of the men. She ran towards her enemy, the men who caused her so much pain, and attacked the closest man. The claws slid straight through his chest as a gurgling sound came from his mouth. Seeing his blood only made Marie want more…and so more she got. She didn’t stop until every one of them was dead and yet the one she wanted got away. Stryker, the name was burned into her mind like the metal that now pushed against her brain.

Marie was pulled out of the vision by Logan whispering in her mind. “Marie, darlin’ you gotta stop it.”

Before she could answer him, she was pushed into another vision. She was in the middle of the woods surrounded by snow and silence. Looking down, she noticed she was naked and yet not cold. She heard a noise behind her and whipped her head around to see a bear twenty feet away. Her first thought was to run but she was starving and this bear would serve to quiet the hunger. Her animal instincts took over and she ran towards the bear. Struggling with the beast, Marie could feel every hit and scratch as the thing fought back. With every laceration came healing, with every bruise came renewal. The bear had no chance of survival against the metal claws and it fell to the snow covered ground disturbing the silence of the forest. Marie dined that night and felt the satisfaction of the kill. She was nothing but animal, not one ounce of humanity left.

“Marie…you gotta take control! FIGHT MARIE!” The Logan in her head screamed.

“I can’t Logan…It’s too strong! The memories, they’re too much!” she cried.

She found herself in a rundown bar somewhere in Canada. Sitting at the bar, she looked around to the various people coming and going. Women threw themselves at her but she ignored them. She wasn’t here for a fuck but for blood. The fighting circuit was a huge attraction in Canada and Marie needed money. She had only been back in civilization for a year but the blood lust did not stop.

Stepping into the cage, Marie felt empowered as the first of a dozen men came to face her. None of them ever had a chance and soon the crowd had a new favorite fighter.

“Rogue?” Xavier’s voice cut through the memories.

Looking around her, she noticed that everything was gone. She was standing amongst a fog of grey and black. She heard someone approach her and turned to see Xavier standing there watching her. He had a look of understanding on his face as he got closer. She felt the bloodlust rise within her and she wanted to kill him. He had no right being in this place, disturbing her from her memories.

“Rogue…I’m not going to hurt you. I’m here to help you,” he said holding his hands out in front of him.

“Get outta my head bub,” she growled.

Xavier stopped and looked at her knowingly, “Wolverine?” he asked.

A cold dead smile lit up Marie’s face as he savored the name. He hadn’t been called that in a long time and he let it wrap him in its sound.

Rogue? He knew that name, but how? Who was this rogue that Xavier spoke of? Wolverine wasn’t used to the feelings that overcame him at hearing that name, yet another name came to him as a memory floated to the surface.

“What kind of a name is Rogue?” he had asked her. She turned back to him with a defiant look on her beautiful face as she turned the tables on him. “I don’t know, what kind of a name is Wolverine?”

Yes, he remembered this Rogue. “My name is Logan,” he had told her. Watching a small smile play on her lips, she had told him her name…her real name. Marie, that’s what she had said…,beautiful Marie. “I’ll take care of you.” He had promised her that. Wolverine never promised anything to anyone, yet this girl had made him promise to take care of her. “You promise?” The look in her eyes made him decide at that moment to give his life for her if that’s what she wanted. “Yeah…I promise.”

He felt himself starting to ease his hold on Marie’s mind as he felt her presence grow stronger than his own. Even though he was giving up power, he didn’t feel defeated. He felt more like the man Logan. And then he was silent.

Marie pushed her way past Wolverine’s strong hold and broke through to regain her mind. Xavier was there to see her through this. This was so different from Cody. She had never lost control of herself with him but he was not even close to having Wolverine’s strength. Marie found it very fascinating that Logan and Wolverine were not the same. Wolverine was very real and not just Logan in a very rage filled mood. She shivered at the feeling of animalistic Wolverine, yet she did not fear him.

Xavier came and stood beside her as she merged her mind with Logan and Wolverine. They were one now, yet she wasn’t overpowered. She had their strengths and together they fought the ugly memories of Logan’s past. She wasn’t sure if Xavier could see all of the horrible memories but being a strong telepath she figured he already knew. As she relived the awful moments, she felt what Logan felt, saw what Logan saw, hated what Logan hated and loved what Logan loved.

The memories stopped for a brief moment as grey and black swirled around her again. Then her face was before her. It was the memory of the night in her room and she watched as the broken man that was Logan open his heart to her for the first time. The emotions she felt from him knocked her to her knees as she saw herself through his eyes. Marie had never felt such a longing and love for one person before. She had never felt the fire of desire burn within her as she did at that moment. How this man could feel this much for her was beyond her understanding, yet it was all here in his memory.

She watched as the memory disappeared into mist and floated away as if on the wind. Xavier was calling her name but it wasn’t in her head. It was a far off, dreamlike sound as if being awakened. Feeling herself being pulled back into consciousness, Marie opened her eyes slowly. Looking around, she noticed that she was in the med lab. Her first thought was that she had come full circle being back in this place.

“Rogue, how do you feel,” Xavier said softly.

Marie turned her head slowly towards Xavier’s voice and saw the gentle eyes of the man. “I feel whole,” she whispered.

A kind smile touched his face and then he turned his eyes over to something out of her view. Sitting up slowly, Marie carefully got to her feet.

“Maybe you shouldn’t overdue it Rogue, you’ve been through a traumatic experience,” he tried to reason.

“I’m fine.” Marie walked past Xavier and headed to the next room over. She couldn’t see into the room but she knew what it held. Some of the X-men were standing out in the hall, between the two rooms but Marie ignored them. Her destination was ahead of her and she couldn’t think of anything else. She heard someone call her name but it didn’t matter, he was in that room and she had to see him.

The first thing she saw was the blood. It was oozing out of the gauzes taped to his body. He looked like a man that had faced a chainsaw and lost. The gut wrenching cry that came from her mouth didn’t sound human. She ran to him and collapsed beside his body. What had she done? Logan wasn’t supposed to bleed, and he certainly wasn’t supposed to be near death.

“Rogue, it’s not your fault. All Logan cared about was saving you,” Xavier whispered behind her.

Her tears were falling on the sheet that covered him as she watched his chest slowly rise and fall. He had given her his healing ability, which would explain why she felt alive as never before. It was a feeling that she could have never imagined in her wildest dreams, but at what cost to Logan? Marie was alive and whole while he battled for his life.

“It’s not your fault darlin’. I’d do it again if it meant that you were okay.” Logan’s voice said in her head.

“Can you fix him?” she asked, without turning to look at Xavier.

“Only time can do that Rogue. Logan is very strong and I have no doubt he will come back to us…when his body is ready.” She could hear pity in his voice as he spoke and it made her feel miserable. “Rogue, why don’t you go change and get some rest,” he said softly.

She could do with a change of clothing, but there would be no rest until Logan woke up. Turning towards Xavier she said, “Can you ask Jubes to grab me a change of clothing in my room?”

He looked at her sadly as he agreed. Moments later he wheeled himself out to talk to Jubes.

Marie stared at the dark red spots all over Logan’s body and a wave of memories hit her again. This time she watched from the sidelines as Logan struggled in his makeshift coffin. His blood was mixing with that horrible green water. She could now see that the men in the room were from the military. The people that were suppose to protect and serve were nothing more than animals themselves. They had taken an innocent man and turned his nightmares into a reality. They had stripped a man of his humanity until there was nothing left. Champagne was passed around as the men celebrated their victory. They never heard the horrible screams coming from the tank. They never saw the heart monitors showing a man dieing and then coming back. These men saw nothing but their stupidity and a world that accepted what they were doing.

Marie awoke with a scream. Looking around, she couldn’t remember where she was. She finally recognized the med lab and Logan’s bruised body laying on the gurney. Her nightmare came rushing back to her and she remembered what had happened. It had been two days since the incident and still Logan remained in a coma. His wounds had healed a little but she wouldn’t be satisfied till he was awake. She had been having nightmares the past couple of nights. Each one of them showing her something different from Logan’s past. How one man could go through all of what he had been through she would never know.

Doubt started to fill her mind. How would Logan react to her when he woke up? Would he hate her for putting him through that much pain? Would he forgive her? Marie fought with these questions and more as she watched him. He made the decision to save her, but did he really know what it would do to him? If he hated her, she would leave. This was his home before she ever came here; she would not deprive him of that one thing. He would hate her for this. The Wolverine inside him would make sure of it.

“Never!” the Logan in her head said emphatically.

She didn’t think that she could put too much stock in a voice inside of her head; the voice that she could probably make to say whatever she wanted it to. The thought of Logan hating her was too much. All of his memories, of her, in his head told her otherwise, but she didn’t want to give herself false hope. Even if Logan didn’t hate her, there was no way he would ever get close to her again. She wouldn’t blame him if he wouldn’t risk touching her. She was after all the untouchable girl.

Five days past as Marie watched the wounds on Logan slowly disappear. She only left his side to change and shower. His vital signs were getting stronger and he was getting some of his color back. Marie read her favorite poems to him and sometimes just talked about her hopes and fears. She missed the color hazel and would beg him to open his eyes.

On the sixth day, Marie took it upon herself to change his bandages. She had had enough of watching Jean run her perfectly manicured fingers down his chest. She knew that, in a way, she was being unfair. The red head was a doctor and was just checking his wounds, but the woman part of her wanted to punch her in the face.

Raising the bandages up, Marie smiled as she saw the skin renewed. There was no sign of lacerations or blood anymore. Going to the next bandage, she noticed the same thing. His body had totally healed itself and she let out a huge sigh. She looked down at her gloved hand and wished she could feel his skin underneath her fingers. She wished that she could touch him the right way.

Marie was startled as she heard a cough and felt Logan reach up to stop her hand from moving. She slowly looked down into the unsmiling face of the man who saved her life.

Time was creeping along slowly as Marie waited for Logan to speak. He watched her without a word, as if trying to decide what he wanted to say. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He held her gloved hand to his chest. She had been checking his wounds, moving her hands from one spot to the other, but now they were covered in is firm but gentle grasp.

“That tickles,” he said hoarsely squeezing her hand.

Marie steadied her breathing as she smiled at him. Listening with her enhanced hearing that she had picked up from Logan, her heart was about to puncture her ear drums it was so loud. She knew that he could also hear it as well.

“That was a brave thing you did Logan,” she whispered. Trying to talk any higher than a whisper, would be impossible for her. Marie didn’t know what reaction to expect from Logan. She had almost killed him and she didn’t think that he would take too well to that.

Slowly, Marie withdrew her hand from his. She watched the confusion play over his face and she wondered what it was about. He recovered before she could even ask. “Glad to see it worked darlin’,” he said.

Taking a few steps back, Marie smiled sorrowfully . She thought that maybe he needed a little space from her toxic skin after what he had been through. “Yeah, well I took on some of your more charming personality traits.”

She heard Logan snort as he laughed, and it made her smile widen. He didn’t seem so scared of her did he? Maybe it would be okay. Maybe Logan wouldn’t be afraid to be near her. She watched him looking around the med lab as if looking for something.

“I’m surprised that Jean isn’t in here checking up on me. You didn’t…do…anything to her…did you?” he said half joking.

Marie gave him a crooked smile that mirrored his own “Naw sugar. All I did to the red head was growl, bare my teeth and lunge for her…good thing for her Scott was standing beside me. I think that woman is a little taken with you,” Marie said laughing.

She watched as Logan’s face turned from joking to serious in a heart beat as he spoke. The sincerity of his words caught her by surprise. The deep emotion in them washed over her as her heart leapt from her chest. “Well, you can tell her my heart belongs to someone else,” he whispered.

Logan and Marie stared at one another for what seemed like forever. Did he have any idea what he was saying? Did he understand that she could never really touch him? He could never really feel her skin under his. He could never be physical in a way that only Logan had known. There would always be a barrier between them and Marie knew that one day he would get tired of it.

Looking away from him, she whispered, “You have no idea what you’re saying Logan.”

She heard Logan slowly start to sit up. Closing her eyes, Marie counted the sound of his footsteps coming closer to her. The slow speed at which he was moving did not go unnoticed. She realized that he was not fully recovered yet and it made her feel all the more worse.

Marie was suddenly surrounded by Logan’s body heat as he stood mere inches from her. So close yet forever separated, that was the kind of life she would have and she couldn’t bear to ask him to live the same way. “Logan, you should detest me for what I did to you. I came so close to killing you, how could you be this close to me?” Marie asked softly.

Hands wound their way into her hair and across her face as Logan brought her to look at him. “Because, for the first time in as long as I can remember…I was willing to give my life for someone else. That’s a rare thing for someone like me darlin’, yet you managed it in just a couple of weeks.” Marie was blown away by the emotion in his voice. She stood as still as possible as he watched her intensely. Marie wished with everything she had that she could just touch him one time.

“I guess it’s really selfish of me to throw all of this on you when you don’t know a thing about my past or who I can really be. I’m afraid that if you really knew me, I wouldn’t have a chance in hell,” Logan said.

Marie’s vision was blinded by the cursed tears that now filled her eyes. What Logan didn’t know is that she knew his past. Every ugly and horrible detail of what Logan had been through in the past fifteen years was now burned inside her head. Not one memory or secret of his made her want to turn away…it made her want to care for him more.

Slowly she reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist. Using her hair as a barrier, she laid her head against his chest. His heart was beating as rapidly as hers and she took comfort in knowing he was just as nervous as she was. Marie thought it was odd how the Wolverine in her head had been so deafening the past few days, yet at this moment he was completely silent.

Before they could say anything else, the med lab door opened as Xavier, Dr. McCoy and Scott walked in. The look of concern on their faces washed away as they took in Logan and Marie. Xavier smiled at the two mutants as they unwrapped themselves from each other.

“Logan, it’s so good to see you awake. How are you feeling?” Xavier asked.

“I…I’m not sure,” Logan said looking at Marie.

Marie looked at Xavier, pleading with her eyes that he not mention her struggle with Wolverine. Right now was not the time. Logan was dealing with enough. She wasn’t really sure how he would take knowing his animal side almost overcame her.

“If you wouldn’t mind Logan, I would like to examine you,” Dr. McCoy spoke.

“I’m fine. I don’t need an examination,” Logan growled.

“Yes, well as your doctor, I’m asking you to just let me make sure of that. It will only take a moment,” he said unsure.

“Hank, what part of…” Logan began but quickly stopped as Marie gently laid her hand on his arm.

“Logan, it wouldn’t hurt to just let him make sure everything’s fine. We can talk later okay?” Marie said softly.

Logan hesitated a moment and then finally nodded his okay. He walked over to the bed and sat down heavily. Marie gave him a smile of assurance and walked over to Xavier and Scott.

Turning to face Logan again, she heard him say, “We got a lot to talk about. Don’t go too far.” She told him she would be just right outside as she made her way out the door.

Coming to a stop out in the hall, Marie leaned her head against the wall in exhaustion. She hadn’t rested in days. She was too overcome by worry to do anything else but watch Logan as he fought for his life. It had been a close call for both of them. That knowledge was just another example of how dangerous her skin really was.

“Rogue, you haven’t told him have you?” Xavier questioned softly.

Turning to look at him, she shook her head no. “I have no idea how to tell him that I know about all of the horrible things that happened to him. How do you tell someone that? Their most personal memories and secrets are now in the head of someone else…it’s not fair to him.” Marie let a few tears fall before angrily swiping them away. This was not the time to lose control of her emotions.

“That may be so Rogue, but it also may be that it will ease some of Logan’s burden to know that he has someone that understands what it was like. Though it didn’t happen to you, it still has scared you just the same,” Xavier said sympathetically.

Looking at the man that was steadily becoming like a father to her, Marie thought about the words he had just spoken. He had a very good point that she hadn’t even thought of. Could it be that Logan would feel the way Xavier had just pointed out?

“You will have to tell him sooner or later Rogue. Don’t let him find out from someone else.”

Logan and Hank walked out of the med lab. Logan had changed into some clothing that Scott had brought down for him. He looked as if he were still a little weak as he walked, but he tried to hide it. She watched him walk towards her as Hank spoke. “Logan is recovering nicely. He is not one hundred percent, but he is okay enough to be released. His healing ability should be fully restored by tomorrow, and he has promised to take it easy until then. Of course we all know how sincere he is about that,” Hank said smiling. Logan just rolled his eyes at the blue giant.

“That is good news Hank, thank you,” Xavier said. “Well, now that we know everyone is making a swift recovery maybe we can all get back to a little normalcy.” Everyone agreed with the Professor.

Logan leaned over to whisper in Marie’s ear, “Take a walk with me.” Marie agreed and turned to say her goodbyes to Xavier, Hank and Scott. Neither of them said a word as they waited for the elevator to take them to the top floor.

The mansion was eerily quiet to be a Friday afternoon. Marie assumed that everyone was either in class or relaxing in their rooms.

Logan led Marie to the oak tree that had become their favorite place at the mansion. The afternoon had turned into a beautiful one, and for a moment Marie looked around to see if the weather goddess had anything to do with it. Storm was no where to be seen so Marie chalked it up to good timing.

As they sat against the tree, neither one started the conversation. Both were too wrapped up in enjoying the breeze that had started to blow. Marie desperately tried to find the words to tell Logan about her newly required memories but her words let her down.

As if Logan could hear the battle in her head, he spoke first. “So, why don’t you tell me how you really are? I can tell there is something that you want to tell me Marie.”

Taking a deep breath, Marie looked over to see Logan giving her his undivided attention. Still the words wouldn’t come to her. “Hey, it’s okay. Just talk to me,” Logan said whispering.

“Logan, do you know how my mutation works?” Marie asked.

He thought about her question for a few moments and then answered. “To tell you the truth Marie, I don’t. All I know is that you can’t touch a person through skin to skin contact. I had some theories, ones that actually were proven correct when I touched you, so that’s about all I know.” He gave her an apologetic smile for not really knowing the answer to her question.

“Logan, when I touch a person, I take their life force…in the case of mutants I take their abilities.” Marie stopped for a moment to let that sink in. This part was pretty well known to Logan after what had just happened, so his face remained smooth. “I take something else as well,” she said faintly.

The words were gone from her again and she looked away frustrated. Taking out her anger around her, Marie started roughly pulling up grass and throwing them. She felt Logan’s hands stop her movements as he held them tightly.

“Marie, just tell me…trust me,” he said quietly.

The assurance of his voice gave Marie the strength to tell him the truth. Taking a deep breath, she whispered, “The first boy I ever kissed wound up in a coma for three weeks. I can still feel him in my head…and it’s the same with you. Not only do the people I touch get inside my head but their memories are there as well.”

She watched as the horrible realization of what she was saying sunk in. All of the color in Logan’s face vanished in an instant.

“Xavier has been working with me a little to get control of the memories and put them into the back of my mind, but your presence there is very powerful. You know, Wolverine can be really annoying sometimes. I’ve had a taste for cigars and beer for the past week and I’ve even caught myself trying to sneak out for them,” Marie said trying to lighten the mood.

To her saddened comprehension, it wasn’t working. Logan still looked as white as a ghost. “Come on Logan, say something….please,” she begged.

Finally, he turned his pain filled eyes upon her as he spoke. “You…know about my past? What exactly have you seen?” Marie was caught off guard by the total defeat in Logan’s voice. He was like a man that was told he only had a few weeks left to live.

“Everything Logan,” Marie said gently.

Logan jumped to his feet and started pacing in front of her. He was tightening his hands into fists and releasing them in an attempt to keep the claws at bay. She was afraid he would be angry with her and her worst fear was now proven correct.

“Logan, I am so sorry. I never wanted to invade your personal memories like that. When I touch someone, I have no control,” Marie said miserably.

His pacing stopped abruptly as he fell to his knees before her. Grabbing her hands he spoke so low she had to strain to him. “Marie, I am not angry with you. It’s just…my God; it shouldn’t be your burden to carry those nightmarish memories. I‘m the one that‘s sorry darlin‘!”

“Don’t you do that Logan. Don’t you dare blame yourself. You saved my life and that was bound to have consequences. If this is my penance for cheating death then I accept it.” She watched him look at her in awe.

“You know everything and yet you still sit before me? I would have thought anyone that knew what I was would run screaming,” Logan said dejectedly.

“You’re a survivor Logan. You are a person who had some horrible things done to him and lived to tell about it. You dealt with your situation in the only way a person could have.” she said with fervor.

The color started to slowly seep back into Logan’s face as he gave her a small smile. “You’re an amazing woman do you know that?” he whispered.

Marie just shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t feel amazing. The thought of turning away form Logan because of his past never entered her mind. Logan sat back down beside her and rested his head back against the oak tree. He looked as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders as he breathed deeply for a moment.

“How…hard was it to have Wolverine in your head?” His soft voice broke the silence around them.

Marie wanted to lie. She was afraid this part would be even harder for him to hear than the part about the memories but she owed it to him to be honest. “It was a rough go at first. He almost took control of my mind but Xavier was there to help…and so were you. It’s weird how you and Wolverine are two separate entities in my mind, yet you are one in the same. You’re voice was there to help pull me through.”

She watch Logan take this information in. “Well at least I did something right huh?” he said jokingly.

Marie couldn’t stop the laughter that rang out. To hear Logan joking was music to her ears. For the first time since this conversation started, she felt that maybe things would be okay. Maybe they would be okay.

They sat in silence for a while trying to digest their situation. Neither Marie nor Logan felt that words were necessary at the moment. Marie raised her face up to the gentle breeze that was blow. She felt the wind kissing her skin and she reveled in its touch.

Opening her eyes, she looked over to see Logan with his eyes closed enjoying the breeze as well. He looked more relaxed, which she was thankful for. Moving her eyes down to his hands, she noticed the pinkish, red area where his claws came out of. His hands were flawless except for that one area.

“Something wrong?” his low voice spoke.

Looking back up at him, she gave him a remorseful smile. “I just had a thought that’s all.”

He waited patiently for her to go on, but when she didn’t he asked her what it was. “I…well, I was wondering…and you can say no if you want…but I was wondering if you would let me see the claws?” she asked in a meek voice.

He stared at her for a moment, not sure as to why she wanted such a thing. Marie wondered if she had gone too far asking for this, but she wanted to see them. Finally, with a long deep breath, Logan raised his hand up as the adamantium claws broke through his skin. She watched in fascination as they extended to their full length. What Logan found to be a curse, Marie found to be extraordinary.

Reaching down, she slipped the glove off of her hand and brought it up to touch the metal. She prayed that it wouldn’t have the same effect that skin had. She felt Logan tense and turned to look at him. He was looking at her out of concern as he spoke. “Marie, they are razor sharp, be careful.” She gave him a nod of her head and proceeded to touch her intended target.

The surface of the admantium claws shocked her. She was expecting hard, cold steel, but what she felt was the total opposite. Warm, smooth texture greeted her bare hand as she explored Logan’s curse. Marie gently started at the tip of the claw and work her way down to just above his knuckles. She could have sworn the whole time neither of them breathed. For the first time since her mutation manifested, Marie was able to touch a part of another’s body without any form of barrier.

Reluctantly she lowered her hand and put her gloves back on. She looked back up at Logan and smiled gently at him. “Thank you for that.” she said tenderly.

He wrapped his arms around her and brought her to his chest. “Anytime darlin’, anytime.”