"I knew you'd be back, Darlin'." I circled her using the curve of the wall as a guide. This one, standing in the shaft of light, is vivid. Haven't seen light in forever, or heard any sound besides what I make. My brain is working overtime on this one, I can smell her.

"Logan?" Her voice trembles in fear. I stop stalking and crouch down. They never notice things like that, but who am I to argue with a hallucination.

"Here," I say softly. Quiet sounds don't bounce around the hole as much.

Tentatively she takes a few steps out of the light, squinting to see. The darkness down here is thick, can't usually see anything besides what my mind lets me. The people aren't too bad. The animals, though…you'd think a camel would be innocent enough, but they getting annoying after awhile.

She gasps when I materialize out of the darkness to stand in front of her. The corner of her mouth lifts and she places a hand on my face.

Her hair isn't right. I pull the pins that hold the bun in place. They ping one by one as they fall on the stone floor. Her hair spills around her shoulders.

"Marie." My voice sounds odd, full of need. She smells of leather and comfort and I want to loose myself in the bit of pleasure my brain is giving me.

This hallucination seems so real. I know I passed crazy sometime ago. I'm probably on the edge of insane now. Can I be insane if I know it's all a figment of my imagination?

They've never been this way, my visions of her. They keep their distance, vanishing before I can touch them. Maybe this is a dream instead.

Wrapping my arm around her waist, I draw her body flush to mine. She feels so real. The leather of her uniform is warm against my bare flesh.

Her scent is rich and full. Concern weighs heavy on her features, but she doesn't resist as I press my lips to hers. A quick kiss before I nuzzle her neck.

"I love you," I whisper in her ear. Her scent thickens, breath hitches. She leans away to look me in the eye. She's searching, hand on my chest.

When I bend down for a kiss, her mouth opens under mine. She's trembling again in my hands, her tongue slides against mine. I slip the zipper of her uniform down.

There's a whimpering sound and I'm not sure if it is her or me. Cupping her breast I thumb her nipple through the fabric of her bra. I want to sink into her slick, wet heat. I tell her so.

She pushes away, tears welling up. "Oh, Logan." A pain sears through me, the blackness begins to consume me again. "What have they done to you?"

~*~

"Were you scared?" I ask as she kneels beside me, bowl of warm water next to her.

"Yes," she answers, wringing the washcloth out.

I drop my head. The Professor was in earlier, said this was my third day. The first two I had been in a feral rage. The room bears the scars of it. He's afraid I have brain damage, the way I've been acting like a wild animal and raving about time travel. "Understandable," he had said, when I couldn't tell him how long I'd been in that hole. Telling him I had no idea how long this timeline's Logan was in there before me? That only earned me a placating nod and an "I see..."

I can't tell if he doesn't remember what happened back in the seventies, or if he just doesn't want to remember.

Marie talked her way into my holding cell, to clean me up, since they won't let me leave. Looking at the walls here, I don't blame them.

She tilts my head up, pushing the long hair from my eyes. "Wasn't scared of you." She wipes the warm cloth across my face. "I was scared for you."

Turned out she wasn't the hallucination I thought she was. My first chance in this timeline to tell her I love her and I fucked it up. The Marie I left behind in the other timeline would have appreciated the dark humor in that.

She finishes up my face and starts on my hands. "Sorry, I couldn't get your hair cut. I was lucky they let me shave off the beard."

Finishing, she leans back. "Are you hungry?"

"No." Know I should be. She purses her lips together. I know it's the thing everyone's looking for, a healthy appetite, but I don't care.

"Do you need a shirt?" She follows my eyes to the air vent where I'd stuffed it in the slats earlier.

My reward is a small smile. "Too much? Do you want me to get them to dim the lights?"

I shrug. I'm not sure slowing the stream of smells pouring in has helped.

She glances down at my hand, I'm absently caressing her thigh. She places her small hand on mine. Her smell shifts, brows knitting together.

"Rogue." Hank's in the doorway signaling that her time is up.

"Strict schedule." She gives me a sad smile. "I'll be back later."

The door closes behind her. After a while the lights dim just enough to not be glaring.

~*~

Marie's allowed back in. She says it's evening. I've always had a good grasp on time, or at least I did before time travel. Before that hole.

"Have you been sitting in the same spot the whole time?"

I grunt a reply.

She sits down next to me and elbows me in the ribs. Wishing to please her, I take the beef jerky she offers.

"About earlier…when you found me…" I know I need to apologize for the way I acted. Part of it anyway.

"That's okay." Though she passes it off as nothing, I can see the blush spread across her cheeks.

"It was crude." Maybe if we'd been lovers for a while, but we haven't been. Not here. She shifts uncomfortably. I smell a hint of arousal that will linger long after she leaves.

"I thought you were a hallucination."

She laughs softly. The first sign of happiness I've had in a long time. "Do you make out with all your hallucinations?"

"No, only you."

There is a flutter of her eyelashes and she looks at me coyly. I remember this look, it is the one she used to give me before we became lovers. It's all trust, compassion, and love rolled into one. With a smidgen of hero worship thrown in for good measure.

"Did you mean what you said…the first part?"

"Yes." I don't hesitate. "I love you."

She stares at the open door, exhaling a held breath. "Logan, I…"

"It's okay." I want to reassure her that she doesn't have to love me in return. It's not like I'm in my right mind or even acting like the man she knew. She nods slowly; we still understand each other with minimal communication.

Reaching down, she hands me the juice box she brought. I raise an eyebrow at her.

"Jean says it's fine for you to have juice." She peels back the little foil piece and sticks in the straw. The smile she gives me is one of conspiracy. "Drink up."

I take a sip, feeling like a toddler with the little box in my big hand. It's not what I expect and take another sip to be sure. Now I feel like a toddler at a bar.

She presses her finger to her lips. I don't know how she's done it, but she brought me beer to go with my jerky.

"Time's up," Jean calls from the door.

Marie takes the empty juice box. "Tomorrow?"

There's a hint of playfulness in her chocolate brown eyes. I nod. "Tomorrow." I watch her stand up to leave, and find myself already wishing it was tomorrow.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Darlin'," I murmur. She pauses in the doorway to look back, then she flashes me a smile and slips from the room.

~*~

I drowned this morning. Thought I was dead at the bottom of a river. Then the lights came on and I was still in this cell.

Xavier came by to talk. He thinks my mind is still playing tricks on me. We talked about my time travel again. He doesn't say anything, but I can tell he thinks I'm insane.

Hank's tests of my sanity are easier. He brings in a chessboard, or something else that requires concentration. We talk as we play. Since I have yet to eat the pieces or think it is anything more than a chess game, I've passed.

Jean comes in and does her doctor thing. Scott sometimes chats from the doorway. They wear matching wedding bands. Nice to know fixing the past worked out for somebody.

Marie, on the other hand, has no test for me. She is simply here. I've even heard her question whether I should be kept in a cell at all after being in a chamber that deprived me of all sensory input.

I know it bothers her, but as long as she continues to come I'll bide my time until the others feel safe. We eat together and now that they allow her to stay longer, she reads to me.

She brought down a book I was reading. I hate to tell her, I remember this one. I don't say anything, cause it's nice to hear her voice as I lay back and relax. Pausing she takes a drink from her water.

"What made you decide to look for me?"

Dog-earing the corner of the page, she sets the book down. "You promised to be back for my graduation and you didn't show."

I raise an eyebrow at her. Even in my mind that's not enough justification for the X-Men to search for someone.

She pauses, fiddling with the book as her cheeks begin to color. "In the year we've known each other, you have yet to break a promise. They told me you'd wandered back to your old life or lost track of time, but I knew you wouldn't let me down like that."

Getting up, from the floor, she sits down on the edge of the platform at my hip. "We talked the week of graduation. You had one thing to check out and you said no matter what you found you'd be back mid-week. Plenty of time." She looks at her hands, blushing a little. "I badgered the Professor into using Cerebro the day after the ceremony. He said you were a hard man to track. Even got Hank to locate your cell phone, and it didn't move for days on end."

She fidgeted with the bottom of her sleeve, a habit left over from when she wore gloves. "Anyway, I'm supposed to be learning to fly the jet." I must have smiled; she gives me a half-hearted punch. "Don't look so surprised. We took a test flight and I begged Hank to fly to the coordinates of your phone. He was suspicious enough when we got there to look around."

"Thanks." My sanity hanging on the whim of a girl. "Sorry I missed graduation."

Smiling down at me, she puts her hand on my chest. "You're here now."

Heat spreads out from her hand, warming my entire body. Her eyes slide away, but the smile and the hand remain. She sits with me quietly until her time is up.

---

I decided not to talk about time travel anymore. Not with the Professor. Today I told him I'm not sure it happened after all. He looked pleased.

I'm playing along and making progress in leaps and bounds. Everyone smiles as I grunt or get surly. My drastic improvement meets with everyone's agreement.

Except Marie's. Now she questions me. I tell her when I'm out of here we'll talk. She looks at me with her juice box conspiracy smile.

~*~

It's still early and I can hear the hushed voices down by the med bay. Truthfully only Bobby is trying to be quiet. He tried shushing Marie, but she refused to be silenced.

"It's been over a week, Rogue."

"So."

"You're sleeping down here."

"Someone needs to be available to help."

"It's not right. People are beginning to talk."

I can imagine Marie with her hands on her hips. She never did take well to being told how to act.

"What do you want me to do Bobby? He's my friend and he's going through a tough time right now."

"I don't know. Does it have to be you?" Whining won't get anywhere with Marie.

"Logan has saved my life several times. Why shouldn't it be me?"

"But last night-"

"You're upset with me because I skipped a night out with your friends?"

"They wanted to know where you were. I had to fib."

"You couldn't tell them I was helping a friend?" She is out of patience; I can hear it in her voice.

"Well…"

"What would you do if it was me in that cell?" Silence. "Bobby?"

"I don't know."

"I see…" Her voice is cold now. "I tell you what Bobby, I'll save you the trouble of ever having to ponder it." Footsteps ring in the hallway heading in the other direction.

"Rogue, come on."

He's going to have to step up his game to get back into her good graces.

---

Breakfast is earlier than usual. We eat in silence. Marie shows no signs of stress from her early morning conversation with Bobby.

"Did he smooth things over?"

She almost chokes on a bite of egg. "No." She shakes her head. "You heard all of it?"

I nod, no point in denying it. I feel bad, I don't want to be the cause of any pain in her life.

"It's been in the makings for a while."

Marie doesn't seem heartbroken about their split. "Why?"

She shrugs, then looks at me with determination for the choice she's made. "Bobby was dating me because people expected him to. A lot of his life is that way. He came to Xavier's because his family expected him to. He's an X-Men because Mr. Sum…Scott expected him to be." She puts her empty plate back on the tray. "I don't want to be someone's obligation. I want a man that cares about me simply cause he does. Not one that pretends because it's expected of him."

Marie leans into me and I put an arm around her shoulders. She doesn't need comforting for the breakup, but it is nice to have her in my arms. Maybe I need the comfort.

~*~

She wakes with a start, and glances over to her roommates sleeping forms. "You can't be in here," she whispers.

I nod. There are separate dorms for a reason, but it's my first night out. "Can't sleep."

Slipping from her bed, she helps me up from where I was leaning against her mattress. I follow her to the door and step out into the hall with her. Her mouth is set in a grim line and she's looking me over. Finally she nods, her mind made up on something.

"Wait here a second," she says before disappearing back into her room.

Standing in the hall in sweatpants and a t-shirt, I scrub a hand over my face. I always slept better with Marie at my side. My room felt empty and after staring at the ceiling for half the night, I went in search of her.

She's gone only a moment or two before she reemerges from the room. In her hand is a backpack that I know she didn't have time to put together just now.

"A little habit left over from you." She smiles and I can't help but return it. First thing I did when I was released was stuff some essentials in a bag and leave it by the door.

In my room, she drops the bag by mine. We stand staring at each other for a long minute. I want to pull her into the bed with me, just to have the knowledge that she is near. Maybe put some sleep between the past and me.

Her mouth is set in that grim line again, eyes darting between the bed and the couch. Mind made up, she walks to the far side of the bed and flips back the covers.

"People will talk." I don't care, but I don't want it to weigh Marie down.

"Let them. People always like to talk about what they don't understand." Knowledge we both have in common. She lies down and pats the other side of the bed.

It's not as intimate as I want, but she is here only an arms length away. It is enough. I learn her patterns all over again. Almost like falling for a second time.

I can see it in her eyes sometimes. The way she smiles. Or watches me move about the room. She's falling in love too.

~*~

The others are sleeping some distance away for safety concerns. This allows us some privacy from prying eyes. We have our system worked out. I wish it didn't have to be this way, but seclusion is a rare thing and we use our time wisely.

My hand is on Marie's hip as I grind into her backside. I nuzzle her neck, relishing her scent as it envelops me. Any moment now she'll say my name sweet and low. We'll struggle with her uniform pants and I'll take her from behind as she spoons into me.

"Logan?" Her voice is sleepy with an edge of trepidation. For the second time in a handful of weeks I've fucked up my relationship with Marie.

In my world, I've known her for years and we've been lovers at least half of that time. But here? Well, here we first saw each other in a Canadian bar a little over a year ago. She graduated from high school not two months back, and has just broken up with her boyfriend.

"Sorry." Slowly I remove my hand from her hip. My voice sounds like a mixture of regret and desire. I'm not above pleading, but it's obvious neither of us are ready for a sexual relationship for different reasons.

"It's okay." She relaxes, so I don't move further away. "Dreaming?"

"Thought I … we were someplace else." I would've sworn we were nestled somewhere in the debris of a building.

"Did we do this often? In your timeline?" She squirms a little to fill in the space between us I had left.

"Wasn't much time for more." I've told her how we were on the run more often than not.

"Do you miss it, the intimacy?"

"I still have you." I place a quick kiss on the back of her head.

"But it's not the same and we aren't them."

I chuckle softly, "True. I'm not exactly right in my head."

"Been there, done that," she says with a bit of humor. Then she picks up my hand and places it on her hip again. "But I've never done this before."

I know from previous conversations that Bobby was scared of her control, which was spotty at best. They'd never progressed much past a little kissing.

"I don't know if…" I leave it unsaid. A man with a large libido and an unstable mind, and an inexperienced girl with iffy control of her life sucking skin may not be the most logical combination.

"Just the mechanics of it." She arches her back and rubs her ass into my groin.

I move my other hand underneath her and cup her breast. My thumb flicks across her nipple and she gives a small oh of surprise.

"We can stop," I whisper against her ear. My cock is achingly hard and though I don't want to stop, I will if she needs me to.

"No, it feels good. Show me more." She moves her head so I can better access her neck. I lick and nip my way to the collar of her nightshirt.

The smell of her arousal is thick now. Sliding my hand over the top of her sleep pants, I rest it on her mound with light pressure. She moves against my hand and I drag my teeth up the side of her neck.

Her soft moans and the scraping of fabric on sensitive flesh is quickly becoming too much for me. She places her hand on top of mine, applying more pressure to her sex. I can smell the slick heat between her thighs. Her heart is beating a wild rhythm that fills my ears.

Grunting, I come fully clothed into the soft flesh of her ass. The sound and smell of her orgasm assaulting my senses. I have to grit my teeth together to keep from biting her.

Lying behind her; I'm a sticky, sweaty mess, but I don't care. Marie and I are something more than friends. A possibility I'd been doubting from the moment I arrived in this timeline.

Pulling our entwined hands up her body, she turns to lie on her back, resting our hands over her heart. "I think we may have gone about this backwards."

"How so?" I'm willing to listen.

"You forgot to kiss me," she says slyly.

I look at her full pouty lips and the way she is biting the lower one. I want to bite there too. "We can fix that."

~*~

There have been a few times, I could count them on my hand if I cared to, that I woke up thinking I was in the other timeline. Usually not in a good way. Dreams of dying friends, leaving Marie, and a ruined world.

Those nights, nights like tonight, I have to escape the mansion. Find my bearings on the outside; remind myself that this world is still in decent enough shape. Staring into the night sky, I can see why the Professor doesn't want to know what the future could hold. It's easier to pretend that it never happened or it was a bad acid trip in the seventies. Not everyone has that luxury.

Marie was stirring when I left our room. She knows me better than I could have hoped; giving me the space I need before comforting us both.

I can hear her, bare feet on the dewy grass. She takes a seat beside me on the retaining wall. Reaching into her robe pocket, she hands me a clipped cigar I didn't finish earlier and a lighter.

"No beer?" I tease, hoping to break the tension that's built up around me.

She smiles and hands me a pint of whiskey from her other pocket. "Thought you might want something stronger." She waits for me to take a swig. "Bad?"

"Yeah." I set the bottle down and she slips her hand into mine, resting her head on my shoulder.

There's no pressing for details, she knows I'll tell her when I'm ready. It will be some time before I will tell her this one, if ever. The dreams are usually filled with fighting and destruction, a scene from an apocalyptic show or as close as any of them will get to the real thing.

This one was different. I saw a future timeline not completely unlike the other one I knew. One where I lived for years thinking Marie was dead, only to find out later that she was alive and being tortured the whole time. Probably the most helpless I've ever felt.

Her presence beside me now is reassuring. I finish my cigar and turn to help her down. Instead she hooks a foot around me and draws me into a hug.

"We're going to make it through this," she says with an air of finality. My anger and frustrations are no match for her hope.

She looks up at me, love plainly written on her face. I've told her several times of my love for her, but she isn't ready to say the words. Even now she hesitates and I kiss her. I want her to find the right time to tell me, not because she feels obligated to make me feel better.

The simple kiss has become deeper, our tongues warring for dominance. Marie says she enjoys kissing me and I try to oblige her whenever possible. But tonight I'm feeling the need to possess her and the way she's rubbing herself on me isn't helping.

The more confidence she gains in controlling her mutation, the less she wears around me. Right now she is in a t-shirt and panties. She recently ditched her sleep pants and only uses the robe if she needs to leave our room. I'm glad for what little she is wearing, as I don't trust myself to not mark her.

I cup her ass, grinding into her and lower my head to suck her nipples through the fabric of her shirt. She bites her lip, stifling a moan. I need the barrier as a reminder of the lines that still need to be in place, but want nothing more than to kiss her sweet flesh all over. As if sensing my desire, she pulls her shirt up, baring her breasts to me.

Her fingers rake through my hair, encouraging my every nip and lick. I need more than this; the scent of her has permeated my brain, driving my actions. I slide a finger over each side of the waistband of her panties and tug. I catch her nervously looking over her shoulder at the mansion.

"Classrooms," I assure her. I glance up at the moonless sky. "Couldn't see us anyway."

Her mouth is set in that grim line of decision making. I kiss her again, giving her extra time to decide while I make up my own mind. I need her, but tonight would be too hard and fast. It would leave her wanting. Not something I should do to her our first time.

Leaning back on her arms, she lifts her hips and lets me pull her panties off. She wads them up and stuffs them in a pocket of her robe. She watches breathlessly as I kiss my way down her body until I'm kneeling in front of her. Her eyes are dark with desire and I can feel a shiver of anticipation run through her.

Nudging her legs further apart, first kissing one creamy smooth thigh then the other. She gasps, letting her head loll back at the first touch of my tongue. As I continue to lick and suck, she lowers herself to lie back on the grass.

She's making little noises that set ablaze the fire already burning in my veins, making my body ache. I pause, panting, and hear her huff in frustration. Chancing a peek, I watch as she kneads her breast, pinching her taut nipples.

"Please," she begs me, wiggling closer to my mouth.

Her hips buck this time when I lick her clit and I place a hand on her to keep her still. With my other hand, I reach into my sleep pants and wrap my fist around my hardened flesh. Her thighs tremble, her scent thick and heady. She grabs at my hand as she comes, moaning my name.

Stroking my cock roughly, I continue licking her as she quivers on my mouth. It was only when her gasp held an edge of pain that I realize I'm biting her thigh as I come. This time she grabs for my hair, but not to push me away. Instead she holds me where I am until our breathing calms.

I kiss the bite mark and she lets go of my hair. Standing up, I help her down from the wall, straightening her clothing for the walk back to the mansion. She avoids looking at me and I wish one of my heightened senses was knowing what she is thinking right now.

"Marie, I..." I'm unsure what to say. I'm don't want to apologize for what just happened, unless it is something she regrets.

She looks at me with that coy look of love; a little more hero worship in the mix right now, and presses a finger to my lips. "I'm fine. It's just that..." she trails off, turning bright red. "I enjoyed it. All of it."

I understand now and kiss her finger. "Not something good Southern girls are supposed to want."

She nods. "What would my mama think?"

"Don't worry, Darlin', I won't be telling her." She laughs lightly and takes my hand as we walk to the mansion.

~*~

Miserable. That's the closest I can come to putting a name to it. We're in the lower levels and Marie's suited up ready to go on her first mission as pilot. I can't tell her not to go, even though I already have. It's not that I don't want her to do her own thing. Actually, I'm proud that she wants to help the team out in some way.

"I'll be fine. I'm not even leaving the jet." Her hand is on my sideburn, trying to be reassuring.

Things we don't plan on happen all the time. You get on the jet as your means of transportation, and then suddenly you're sucked out and falling through the air. It had happened to her before, in the other timeline, and I feel just as powerless now as I did then. I can't even find solace in the fact that Nightcrawler is going along.

I would normally go. But they didn't ask and I didn't offer. I think we all know I'm not ready to be part of a team yet. I think Marie is relieved I haven't been put back on the team. She's expressed a fear of losing me again. Probably the same fear that is making me miserable right now.

My time is spent in the communications room monitoring their transmissions while I study the information Hank pulled together for me. I listen for Marie's voice as I sift through research on sensory deprivation, photos taken and data collected from the facility I was at. Hank hasn't made heads or tails of what the program's final objectives for me were, but it's obvious they were trying to break me.

In certain ways I think they did break me. Physically, I'm intact, no worse for the wear. Mentally, is a different story. Everyone and everything points to the fact that all I need is time. Despite all of it, Marie has been the most successful at putting me back together.

Waiting patiently is something I've never been good at when I think action is required. So it is no surprise that I'm struggling when the jet lands in the hangar. Marie waves from the cockpit window and I have to suppress the urge to drag her from the plane.

I watch as she goes through the shutdown procedures, even as the other team members disembark. Slowly she exits the jet with Scott. She listens attentively as he gives her a few pointers for her next flight. Every time she glances at me I can see the sparkle in her eye.

Until this moment I didn't realize how much I love this Marie. She is the same person I left behind with slightly different quirks and I love her all the more for them. Her enthusiasm for being an X-Man, helping others, and trying to make a better world spills over. This coupled with her unending hope, is infectious and has a way of lightening my mood.

When Scott leaves, she practically throws herself at me. She is almost bouncing up and down as she tries to kiss me. I barely catch a word as she gushes about flying and being a pilot. Finally she settles down to a tight hug and a joyful giggle. My body of course naturally betrays my enthusiasm for her.

"I want you, Marie," I whisper in her ear.

Her amusement bubbles back up. "I can feel that, Sugar," she says pressing her hips into mine. "Just let me go change."

I don't want to wait. I want to be up in our room making love to her. Grabbing her hand, I pull her toward the elevator. Her laughter rings in the hallway as she tries to keep up with my longer strides. No sooner do the elevator doors close than she is in my arms again.

I kiss her breathless and she starts nipping at my jaw line and down my jugular. Her hands are busy freeing my cock from my jeans as she squats in front of me. I'm glad it's late and the elevator won't be making any stops. We certainly don't need to give any students an impromptu sex show.

"Marie, stop." I'm so close now, I can't take much more. She peers up at me; batting her eyelashes, her perfect pink lips still wrapped around the head of my cock. She pulls away with a quiet, wet popping sound. The doors slide open as she stands.

Winking at me, she gives me an amused giggle and runs off down the hall. After tucking myself in, I stalk her down the hall to our room. She's left the door open and is already taking her boots off. The door clicks shut behind me, I step toward her and she bumps into me as she wobbles on one foot trying to get her boot off.

She drops the boot and faces me, amusement dancing in her eyes. I quirk an eyebrow at her and the corner of her mouth twitches.

Lifting a hand, she carefully traces my eyebrow with a finger. "Do you have any clue how sexy that is?"

Her tongue darts out to wet her lips and I nip at it with my teeth. She lets me suck her tongue into my mouth. A low growl rumbles through my chest and she presses her body into mine.

We shed our clothes and she pushes me back onto the bed. I pull her down on top of me, devouring her mouth. It all happens so fast, one minute she's laughing and teasing, the next she is touching me gently and rubbing herself on me. Her wet folds against my cock are enough to make me come.

I sink back into the comforter with a heavy sigh. What happened to the legendary Wolverine stamina? One petite, innocent woman puts me to shame.

Marie sits astride me, biting her lip trying to suppress a smile. She plays with my chest hair and though I know it's meant to be soothing, it isn't helping my ego. Leaving the bed, she runs water and reappears with a warm washcloth.

This reminds me of the first day when she cleaned me up in the holding cell. That was months ago and it seems like all the little pieces of me still aren't put back together like I hoped. Maybe I've been broken in more ways than I thought.

Snuggling in beside me, it's almost as if she can see the dark turn my thoughts are taking. "You know," she starts, placing kisses on my chest. "It's kind of a turn on to know I make you that horny."

I snort at that and squeeze her hip. Marie is definitely my better half and I'm not sure I would have made it this far without her. In fact without memories of her as an anchor, I may not have made it out of that hole with my mind intact.

"Besides," she breathes in my ear as she rakes her nails up my inner thigh. "Isn't that what a healing factor is for?" She kisses her way across my jaw then down my neck to my Adam's apple. Nibbling and licking, she finds the sensitive spot at the hollow of my throat.

In mere seconds she's been able to relax and excite me at the same time. I roll on top of her and she's smiling at me with that coy look I remember. I want to make this right for her so that she will always look at me this way.

We start a slow rhythm. I try to be attentive to her every need, but she makes it difficult. She caresses the small of my back and runs her hands gently up my sides. I clasp her hands in mine, kissing her. I watch her as she falls apart underneath me. It feels like this is the first time I've truly seen her, truly understood what she means to me. I immediately know I'd wander aimlessly in this world without her. She pulls me down for a kiss as my vision goes hot white and I spill into her.

Later I wrap myself around her, content for the first time in months. I get lost in the smell of me on her skin, of sex and us.

"I need to get me one of them healing factors," she says sleepily.

"Just say the word, you can borrow mine anytime."

~*~

It will be fun. Those had been Marie's exact words, one of the few things in the last six months I do remember clearly. I don't know about fun, but she's had a good time. So by proxy, my time has been well spent.

We've meandered our way across the lower forty-eight, with the only plan being to see the sunrise at the Grand Canyon. However once out of New York State, Marie found all kinds of places she wanted to visit. We've been to spots like Rock City in the middle of freaking nowhere Kansas, which led to stopping at the biggest ball of twine. If there is no hotel nearby, we sleep in the back of the SUV. That happens more often than not.

I'm not complaining. It's given me plenty of time to sort out my thoughts and memories without people constantly scrutinizing me. Drifting is something I know how to do. Doing it with Marie at my side, keeps me grounded and moving forward.

We drove into Bright Angel Point of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon yesterday evening. Who knew you would need to book a place to sleep almost a year in advance. After scouting around some I found her the perfect spot to park overnight and get a good view of the sunrise.

It got cold last night, seeing how it's mid-October, but she says she doesn't mind cause I keep her warm. In turn, she makes me hot. Probably a good thing the park is empty this time of year.

Marie's been up since six working over the little camp stove making coffee and bacon. She told me to stay put and relax awhile. Can't argue with that logic.

"Logan!" She shakes my foot, holding out a cup of coffee that sloshes with her every bounce.

I take the cup and watch her as she jumps around and claps her hands in excitement. Crawling out, I stretch and fish a piece of bacon out of the frying pan. She finally joins me to lean back against the SUV and steal my last piece of bacon.

She chatters on about the colors, clouds, and streaks of morning light. I decide if Marie ever wants to have my kids, I want them all to be like her. Full of enthusiasm for the little things of life. I can picture myself out here with a small pack of cubs as they revel in the beauty of the sunrise.

Suddenly she turns to hug me, I'm too late moving my coffee out of the way. It lands on the ground. It's the last of the coffee and I lift an eyebrow at her. Just as abruptly, all of her gusto turns on me. She wets her lips and slowly traces my eyebrow with a fingertip.

"Let me make that up to you." She kisses me and I know where this is going.

Her hands have become skilled and confident over time. My cock is hard and my body aches for release when she takes me into her mouth. I might have to agree with her that this is one of the best sunrises I've seen as the colors explode before my eyes.

I already know our next destination by the time I'm breathing normally again. We'll head far to the north, probably Canada. There I'll find a nice place to camp and I'll make love to Marie under the Aurora Borealis.

~*~

Now this is my idea of fun. My second opponent is being drug out of the cage and I glance over at Marie. She is at the side of the platform by my bottle and cigar, staring up at me with that coy look. She's had a sip or two my whiskey, said she wanted to mellow out a little so she didn't act too much like a groupie.

We found a couple of nice places to view the Northern Lights this last week. That's when she mentions she'd like to find a bar with a fight cage. I could see the spark in her eye and put up no objections.

The MC is busy doing his thing and gets a new fighter from the crowd. This man looks like he can handle himself better than the last two. I roll my shoulders and crack my neck, and take the first punch with a smile. He does a fairly good job and I let him land two more punches and a kick before I drop him.

Stretching to pop my back, I circle him. I can see Marie crooking a finger at me, beckoning me to her. My opponent is struggling to get up; I step over him and cross the floor in two long strides. Crouching down, I lean over to hear her above the noise.

"I love you, Logan." Her eyes sparkle.

"I know," I tell her as my opponent staggers toward me. I turn and knock his feet out from under him with a swing of my leg. I swivel back to her, smiling.

"Smug bastard," she teases. "Did you know I want you to-" She stops, becoming so red even the tips of her ears flush bright pink. I can smell her arousal over the stench of the crowd. She looks me squarely in the eye and mouths the words that embarrass her. The same words I said to her when she rescued me.

I stand up and punch the other fighter hard enough that he hits the floor, out cold. Grabbing my flannel shirt and jacket, I pull them on as I hunt down Marie. She is fleeing the bar ahead of me.

Outside I spot her at the SUV, opening one of the rear passenger doors. She leaves it open and when I reach her, she's sitting on the edge of the seat facing me. Her skirt is rucked up around her thighs.

She begins to retreat into the vehicle expecting me to follow. Instead I take hold of her calves and pull her back to me as she squeals in surprise. This motion pushes her skirt up even further and I can see the black scrap of lace she's calling panties. I trail my fingers up the damp seam, applying extra pressure at her clit.

She moans and grinds into my hand. Reaching down she frees my already hard cock from my jeans. Then she lies back on the seat, watching me with wanton desire in her eyes. With my hands on her hips I pull her closer still.

I can feel the heat of her sex as I rub the head of my cock against her lace panties. It causes a nice bit of friction for us both and I rumble low in my chest.

"More," she hisses out.

Carefully I extend a claw. Her eyes go wide, but I can smell her excitement kick up a notch. She whimpers as I slide the flat of my blade down her inner thigh. Leaning on her elbows to gaze at me, she shudders when I slip the blade under the crotch of her panties.

Cutting the bit of lace, I then bring the blade to my mouth and lick her moisture from it before retracting it. Glancing up at Marie, her eyes are huge; her pink tongue darts out to wet her lips.

She slumps back with a groan, hair spilling around her shoulders. "Stop teasing," she pleads.

I slick my cock on her wet folds and thrust into her hard. She gasps sharply. "Marie?" My hands tremble at her hips, the momentary shock subsides and she relaxes. We've done so well up to the point, I don't want to destroy what we've built because I can't control myself.

Grabbing handfuls of my jacket she pulls us together for a kiss. Her tongue slides against mine and she glides her hand across my chest to flick my nipple. She breaks away panting and I rest my head on hers.

"Fuck me, Logan," she whispers. "Hard."

I back away to look her in the eye. There is a need I didn't notice before, a need that matches my own. A desire for a hard and fast coupling that will leave us both hungry for more. Withdrawing, I slam into her again, watching as her eyes slide close.

"Yes," she moans and I begin pistoning in to her.

She's hanging onto me, clawing into the flesh of my ass. I grunt with each thrust. Circling her clit with my thumb she begins to convulse around me. All the tension of these long months that has been hanging on me releases and I fill her.

Afterward, at the motel down the road, she sleeps curled into my side. I watch her, playing with a lock of silvery hair. Kissing her gently on the crown of her head, I whisper, "I love you."

She snuggles closer. "Love you, too," she answers sleepily.

Marie told me months ago that we would get through this. She was right. I'm hoping the worst is behind us, not that it will ever be peaceful with me involved, but she has a way of smoothing out all my rough edges. I finally feel at ease. Maybe I've put enough time between the past and me.

I don't think I will ever be the man the people in this timeline think I was. I don't know if I will ever be the same man from the other timeline, but I don't know if it matters anymore. Though maybe, just maybe, I can be the man Marie needs me to be. That's enough. After all, she is the one who put the pieces of me back together.

~*~