Rogue watched in horror as the hatch of the jet closed, leaving Jean outside the jet and the rest of them inside. The wall of water heading toward them was going to kill her, and Rogue couldn’t help the feeling of guilt that she had caused this.

Why did she try and fly the stupid plane. Why did she have to land so badly; it was a miracle the hatch even opened at all.

She watched out the window as the jet lifted into the air, Jean looked like a child’s toy, like she could just reach out the window and pluck her to safety. If only she could...

Maybe she could!

A flash back of her own, most recent, dance with death came to her mind, the whumping sound of her teleporting saviour reminding her how easy it had been to pluck her out of free fall before she met terra firma.

Whirling quickly, intent on her objective, she grabbed hold of the blue skinned mutant. Focussing all her thoughts, and hopefully her mutation, on his powers she prayed this would work.

“Sorry Kurt,” she murmured, as she watched him gasp for air and sway unsteadily, staring at her in pain and confusion.

Before anyone had even realised what she was doing, she stepped back up to the window, eyes fixed on Jean as she tried to figure out how to make her new power teleport her down there.

--

Logan watched in horror as the wall of water fast closed in on Jean. There was no way she could survive, and he felt like the world’s worst asshole for holding Scott back and preventing him from going to her. Jean had made her choice though, she had chosen Scott, and she had chosen Scott, and the rest of them, would live. As much as he didn’t like how this was playing out, they really had no option but to go along. If anyone opened that hatch now, they would all die; except him... probably.

Logan was momentarily distracted as Marie stepped up to the window beside him, watching Jean intently. He was just thinking to himself, in relief, that she was at least safe at his side, when he caught sight of the determined look on her face.

“Rogue?” he murmured, not sure what she was planning but fairly confident he wasn’t going to like it. Before he could grab hold of her arm and demand to know what she was up to the smell of sulphur burned his nostrils, and Marie disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

“MARIE!!” he roared, forgetting about Scott entirely as he threw himself even closer to the window when he spotted Marie appear on the ground beside Jean. His claws were out in a flash, intent on cutting through the soft metal belly of the plane to get to Marie, but this time it was he who was held back, heedless of his claws, snarls, and growls.

He could do nothing but watch, Scott at his side, as the water came closer and closer to the pair of women now standing on the ground. Watching in horror and heartbreak, as the water finally closed over them when Jean’s strength gave out.

Scott went quiet, sagging against the wall of the jet, sinking to the floor as he began to weep. Logan just roared, pounding clawless fists into the wall in anger and grief, as inside the wild feral part of himself whimpered and curled in on itself. He hadn’t been able to save her; he had promised her.

~Alright blue-dude, give me some tips here, how do I get us back?~ Rogue demanded of her new head passenger, trying to push the agonised roar from Logan – that she had heard as she was teleporting out of the jet – far from her mind. She had even felt the shifting of air as he had desperately tried to grab hold of her. But if this worked he would thank her, she would be getting Jean back for him, or Scott, you know, however that worked out. And it was going to work, not working was not an option.

She could hear Kurt’s voice in her head, confused at how he got there, and where exactly he was, while he tried to explain his mutation only worked by line of sight, he needed to see where he was going to be able to teleport there.

~So how did you get us back in the jet after that free fall the other day?~ she demanded, unsettled by the sudden confused silence from her new passenger. Great, just what she needed, trying to use a power courtesy of someone who didn’t know how their power worked in the first place.

Thinking quickly as she watched the wall of water fast approaching them on the ground, as she heard the jets engines finally roar to life where it was suspended above them, Rogue figured what the hell; just think of some place and hope you end up there...

She reached forward and wrapped her arms around Jean, and felt the other woman slump in exhaustion. Rogue thought of her ‘safe place’. A picture appearing in her minds eye, just as she felt the first few drops of water hit them in advance of the wave.

~Go there,~ Rogue told her new borrowed power. Feeling the moment they left the place they had been, her stomach flip-flopping at the sensation of being ripped from reality while she was standing still.

With her eyes still closed she felt them reappear. Where that would be she still hadn’t figured out exactly but as gravity became a thing again she felt both herself and Jean collapse to the ground. She was so exhausted she could barely crack open her eyes, when she did she stared around her in confusion, then in amazement.

They were in her childhood treehouse in Mississippi.

“Huh, what do you know, it worked,” she murmured, before all but passing out, Jean right beside her.

--

The jet set down in sombre silence in the hanger under the basketball court. Silence but for the continual growl from the groups furious feral.

“Find her old man, get in your big round room and fucking find her!” Logan snarled.

“Logan there is—” Charles tried to begin explaining.

“Save it, you wouldn’t let me off then and there to find her myself so you damn well find her and point me in the right direction,” Logan replied, stalking off the jet, trying to ignore the old man as he called after him pointing out the dead don’t have brainwaves to detect.

That night passed in near silence, the only occasional sounds to hear the sobs of lost and hurting people. The few children they had rescued where all piled into one dorm, by their own choice, using each other’s presence for comfort. The rest of the children were still out in the world somewhere, the older students who had accompanied them knowing to take them to various safe houses the Professor had scattered around not too far away.

Scott was trying to distract himself by planning the best ways to collect all the students and return them to the school. Ororo was trying to meditate in her rooftop garden. Bobby found himself back where he had been when this all started, in the kitchen, staring blankly at the six holes that now marred the refrigerator doors. Kurt tried to make himself scarce, he didn’t feel right intruding on the group that was now so mired in grief, so he found himself a couch, in a darkened library, and went to sleep.

--

Late into the night Logan paced his room. His thoughts churning, running over the situation again, and again. Trying to figure out where he could have changed something, anything, that would have stopped Marie. Why had she done it? Why had she gone out there? What had she been hoping to achieve other than giving him a body to recover? Because he would recover her, even if it took him the rest of his life he would find her, whatever was left.

That water crashing down on her would have been like several tons of concrete. She would have been crushed, the churning water twisting her body in unnatural ways, tearing her limb from limb. She probably wouldn’t have died instantly, would have felt it all, every broken bone, every torn muscle, every impact into rocks and debris, before finally her brain ran out of oxygen from water filled lungs.

As his mind was flooded with images of Marie’s broken body, her dark chocolate eyes found his through the churning water, he could hear her soft southern voice.

“Why didn’t you protect me Logan...

“Why didn’t you save me...

“You left me Logan...

“You promised...” her voice taunted him.

“You promised me Logan.”

With a startled gasp, Logan jerked up out of bed, falling right off the side and landing on his hands and knees. He scrambled for the bathroom a moment before his stomach lurched, retching at nothing – he hadn’t eaten in almost a full day – before he collapsed on the floor again.

“Marie... I’m so sorry Marie,” he whispered, as he began to sob.

That was a weird feeling that, crying, he couldn’t remember ever having done it before. The closest he had come once before had, oddly enough, also been because of Marie. That time he held her on the statue, willing her to live, to take his mutation and breathe.

When he was done sobbing like a child, he kicked himself into gear, climbing to his feet and heading for his room. He dragged out his pack and hurriedly stuffed all the items he had emptied out of it mere days before back in. Even his dirty laundry he stuffed back in, he didn’t have time to wash it here. He was going back to Alkali, he would be there until he found her, he owed her that much.

It wasn’t until he pulled open his door, and heard the sobs coming from another room that he remembered, they had lost Jean too. He hadn’t even given her one moment of thought since Marie had teleported out of the jet. That thought brought him up short as he pondered it... but of course he hadn’t thought about Jean, it was Marie that was his, it was Marie almost every action of his revolved around, it was Marie he was in love with...

~Since when?~ he asked his own inner voice, watching in silence as little snippets of memory began to float through his mind. Marie asking if his claws hurt... the shy smile she shared with him in his truck... on the train when she had just told him she had him in her head but she still cuddled up to him and let him make promises... the sad smile she had given him when he left, right after she told him she wished he wouldn’t go but she was letting him go anyway, and her brilliant smile when he came back.

~Oh,~ was all he could come up with in response, ignoring the snigger of his own subconscious.

This realization didn’t help his current frame of mind. All that time wasted distracting himself with Jean, had caused him to miss out on what little time he had had with Marie. Didn’t he feel like an idiot now!

The next morning dawned disgustingly bright and sunny for the gloomy mood in the nearly empty mansion.

Charles watched the news footage of the dam burst, and subsequent flooding downstream from Alkali Lake. He was listening for any statement of bodies found, so far seven people were listed as missing. Later today he would call the local police department and lodge a missing person’s report for their lost women, he would need to come up with a plausible cover story in the mean time.

--

Ororo was in the kitchen, pouring herself another cup of tea and wishing it was something stronger. It had been years since she had smoked but a cigarette sounded good right now too; anything to distract herself. She was just leaving the room when the phone rang on the hall table. Watching the little light that flashed as the tone trilled, she considered leaving it to go to voicemail before deciding it would be a good distraction. Perhaps it was some of the children ringing asking for a pick up, maybe it was a concerned parent who had heard of the attack.

“Xavier’s School,” Ororo answered, trying to sound dignified and composed, though she didn’t think she managed more than ‘alive and speaking’.

“Miss Munroe? It’s me, Rogue, it’s a long story but we could really use a pick up,” the soft southern tinted voice floated down the line.

For a few moments Ororo stood staring dumbly at the phone in her hand, before she parroted, “Rogue?”

--

Logan’s step faltered mid stride, when he heard Ororo gasp in surprise. Her exclamation drew him in, and he found himself rushing to her side, plans to sneak out undetected forgotten.

Wrenching the phone out of her hand midsentence Logan took control of the call. “Who is this?” he demanded.

“Logan!” he heard Marie’s relieved voice across the line, her tone suddenly sounding light and happy. “It’s me sugar, we need a pick up, as soon as possible, turns out this place is even less safe than it used to be,” Marie was chattering away, happily but tired.

“Where are you?” Logan asked, grabbing for the pen and the notepad beside the phone, ignoring Ororo who stood beside him still in shock.

“Meridian, Mississippi, my old hometown, it’s a long story how we got here but we need to get out a-sap,” Marie told him.

“Why? What’s wrong Marie?” he demanded.

“Let’s just say the locals are even less friendly than they used to be,” Marie shared worriedly.

“Do you have somewhere to lay low?” Logan asked, worried himself, while he was simultaneously relieved. Even to be able to hear her voice was a relief.

“Yeah, we do, for now, how long do you think it’ll take to get here, should we stay or try to get out of town?” Marie asked.

Logan turned the question over to Ororo, who gave him a time frame.

“You stay put and lay low darlin, we’ll be there before you know it; is there a place where we can put the jet down that you can get to?” Logan queried, scribbling down notes as Marie gave him a location where the jet would fit and be out of the way, where they could meet them.

“We’ll be there as soon as possible darlin,” Logan assured her, imploring her again to be careful and lay low.

“We’ll be waiting Logan, I’ve got to go, see you when you get here,” Marie murmured softly.

“Wait! Who’s we?” Logan suddenly asked, noting her continued use of plural identifiers.

“Me and Jean, silly,” Marie replied, as if ‘duh’ that should have been obvious. “I’ve got to go, I’ll see you soon,” she repeated, the phone hanging up before he could say anything more.

Hanging the phone up Logan stared at it for a few moments. “That was Rogue,” he stated, still in shock.

“Yes,” Ororo replied, just as stunned.

“She said Jean’s with her,” Logan murmured.

“Really!?” Ororo gasped, surprised as much as she was hopeful.

“Yep,” Logan confirmed. “You go tell Chuck and get the jet ready, I’ll get Scott,” Logan suddenly announced, handing Ororo the notes he had taken so she could chart the jets course to collect its passengers.

Scott had been silent the whole trip, stoic, focused, running through the motions of piloting the high-tech plane as a means of not having to think about what was happening around him. They had been landed, near the abandoned farmhouse Rogue had directed them to as a meeting point, for ten minutes before he finally broke his silence. His tone bitter and angry to hide his devastation and grief.

“I told you it was too good to be true, it’s probably a fucking trap, or a decoy to get us away from New York, I’ll bet you right now Magneto and Mystique are rounding up our kids from the safe houses to join their little bitch squad,” Scott muttered loudly, pulling Logan from his thoughts where he was pacing at the bottom of the jets loading ramp, waiting far from patiently.

“Magneto and Mystique wouldn’t have a clue what had happened at Alkali, asshole, they’d already left long before we even got out of the base, it was definitely Rogue I talked to,” Logan stated vehemently.

“Uh huh, sure, your brain was either playing tricks on you, or it was wishful thinking, face it wolf boy, you were duped,” Scott snapped in return.

Logan growled menacingly before replying, “When the fuck did you turn into such a nihilistic prick, it was definitely her.”

“Probably some time around when I watched my fiancée die, on top of that I now have to watch a teammate losing his marbles, shit I don’t feel like dealing with right now,” Scott declared, as he stood to his feet to turn and stalk inside the jet.

Logan intercepted him with a lunge, slamming him against the wall and waving three razor sharp claws menacingly in his face. “Listen here you insufferable little shit, just because you’re willing to give up on them so easily doesn’t mean the rest of us are, Marie damn well had some sort of plan on going out there to rescue YOUR wife, I’m not giving up on her just because you’ve lost your mojo all of a sudden. Marie said there was trouble around them, the locals were being shifty, and they were having to lay low, I’m going out to look for them, because there aren’t many things that would prevent Marie from keeping her word but asshole humans are one of those, you can either come with to look for YOUR wife, or you can stay here hiding like a little bitch, alone. What’s it going to be?”

Scott glared at him for a few moments before batting Logan’s hand away from his shirt collar, and turning to continue walking back onto the jet.

“Pussy,” Logan spat after him. “I hope Jean dumps your sorry ass when we get her back to the school,” he snarled, ignoring Scott’s cynical retort as he stalked away from the jet and the farmhouse, heading towards the town that was not too far away. He knew roughly where Marie’s old home was, she had shown him once on a map, and where the payphone she had called from earlier was, worst case scenario he could track her from there.

Ororo sighed, watching Logan stalk away as she listened to Scott throwing things inside the jet. Should she stay with Scott, or go with Logan... on the balance of probabilities, Logan was the most likely to get himself in trouble.

“Scott... just wait here, we’ll be back soon,” Ororo stated, after quickly rethinking her plan to try and talk him around. She discretely shut the jet ramp, and locked it for good measure. Sure Scott knew how to unlock it but hopefully he wouldn’t try, she was doing so more to protect him anyway.

She jogged to catch up with Logan – damn he walked fast – and trailed him silently wherever he was going. After a few minutes she squeaked almost silently when Logan came to a dead stop in front of her, sniffing at the air.

“They were here,” he gruffly snapped, “Both of them, someone, three people, dragged them into a vehicle.” Without another word he took off at a steady run, leaving Ororo to follow after him.

She caught up to him just as he was throwing open a side gate, leading to the backyard of a seemingly random house. Briefly considering asking what the hell he was doing, she watched in confusion as he headed for the back of the yard, and began climbing a tree, before popping into a treehouse.

Just before Logan jumped back out, Ororo heard raised voices inside the house. She couldn’t hear what they were saying but it was a man and a woman, and didn’t sound like a typical domestic.

“That’s where they were hiding out,” Logan told her, as he brushed past her heading for the house.

With a solid crack he kicked open the backdoor of the house, and Ororo watched in shock as he advanced on and grabbed the man she could now see standing in the hallway, throwing him up against the wall. Claws were flashing dangerously again for the second time in less than ten minutes, and Ororo was worried this time there was no amount of grudging respect to stop Logan from using them.

“WHERE IS SHE!?” Logan roared in the mans face.

“W-Who?” the man asked, even as the woman who had been screaming at him a moment earlier backed away with a gasp.

“Your fucking daughter you pathetic waste of a ball sack, who did you rat her out to and where did they take her?” was Logan’s snarled response.

“Th-they usually ‘work’ at the local high school,” the woman whispered, tears in her eyes as she watched the scene unfolding before her.

“Priscilla!” The man still hanging from Logan’s fist hissed in warning.

“Oh go to hell George, the only reason I haven’t left you already is because I don’t believe in divorce but I can tell you this, by God I chose my husband poorly, I’m just sorry it took me so long to see and cost me so much,” the woman snapped back at her husband.

Obviously coming to the conclusion the woman’s testimony was trustworthy, Logan let her husband go, just long enough to slug him in the face; not hard enough to kill him but probably at least enough to break a couple of bones, and knock him out for a while.

“Where’s the high school?” Logan asked, watching as the woman grabbed a pen and drew a crude map for him.

“Please sir,” Priscilla said, catching Logan’s arm as he turned to leave, “Find her and get her as far away from this place as you can, take care of my little girl, I do love her, so much, but I can’t protect her, you can though, can’t you?” she asked with a soft smile.

“Yes ma’am,” Logan murmured in response, nodding gratefully to the woman as he felt his own nerves calm a little before heading out.

They made it to the high school in short order, having full out sprinted for the area. On leaping the gate Logan didn’t stop to second guess himself, before he was barrelling across the schools football field, toward where a number of cars and pick up trucks were parked haphazard on the grass around a fenced off area.

Picking up the scent of chlorine as he approached Logan realised this was the school’s swimming pool. A terrifying thought ripping through his mind about what he might find on the other side of the fence made him move faster. He picked up Marie’s scent as he yanked open the door and ran in, ignoring Ororo who was struggling to keep up behind him, and barrelled forward alone.

Two woman were standing on the upper diving board of the pool, around three meters above the waters smooth surface. They were bound at the wrists, blindfolded, and gagged. A man was standing further back on the diving board, prodding them with what looked like a cattle prod, clearly trying to push them off the end of the board. A crowd of onlookers were cheering around him as they watched, and Logan barley managed to restrain himself from gutting the lot of them right then and there.

Shooting out all six claws, Logan charged forward with a blood curdling roar, making a half hearted attempt to swipe the person nearest him. Screams erupted a split second later as people began to run, as far and as fast as they could, away from him. One dumb drunk pulled a gun on him, promptly pissing himself when he pulled the trigger, then watched the resultant shot wounds heal up before his eyes, as Logan wrenched the gun into two pieces. He watched in bored amusement as that guy ran too.

“Logan!” he heard Ororo’s cry behind him, and turned just in time to see Jean and Marie tumble from the diving board, which must have been jostled by the fleeing crowd causing them to lose their balance.

Jean caught herself telekinetically, floating uncertainly in the air as she was unable to see where she was or how far up she was. Marie on the other hand plummeted into the water with a splash, followed by Logan a split second later. He caught her, sinking quickly, then pushed upward off the bottom of the pool to get them both back to the surface.

He swam as hard as he could, fighting against waterlogged clothes, and a heavy metal skeleton that all wanted to pull him back to the depths. His will far out weighed his skeleton though, and he was soon hauling himself and Marie out of the water.

Quickly he cut the gag and blindfold off her, watching in relief as Marie gasped in a lungfull of air, while he cut the rest of the ropes binding her. Then she threw herself at him, hugging him tightly as she began to cry.

“Shh, it’s alright darlin, I’ve got you, you’re safe now,” Logan consoled her, as he rubbed her back soothingly, relief keeping him where he was as he held her just as tight as she held him.

After several minutes Marie pulled away, shyly wiping away her tears as she apologized for crying all over him.

“No problem darlin, you can cry on me anytime you want,” Logan assured her teasingly.

“Jean!” Marie suddenly remembered, turning to see where the other woman was. She visibly breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted her on the other side of the pool, Ororo having guided her to the ground, and now working on untying her.

“Jean’s fine kid, and you’re damn lucky you are too, if you ever get the bright idea to pull a stunt like that again, don’t,” Logan stated with a frown, suddenly losing the teasing edge to his tone.

“I knew what I was doing Logan,” Marie replied, rolling her eyes when Logan shot her a disbelieving look. “Hey it worked didn’t it, everyone got out alive, I fixed my fuck up from crash landing that stupid plane,” she finished in almost a whisper.

“God damn, Marie that wasn’t your fault, the jet was lucky to get off the ground at all after that missile strike, you moving the jet gave us a fighting chance, if you hadn’t done that we all would’ve kicked the bucket, and that wouldn’t have been your fault either,” Logan stated, tugging her back into his arms. “And for the record, I’d pick having you over Jean any day of the week, don’t tell her I said this but she gets annoying after a while,” he slipped back into teasing again.

Marie giggled, wiping her face of tears again. “Thanks Logan,” she murmured softly, giving a final sniffle before she queried whether Kurt was okay.

“He’s fine, Jean’s fine, how about you, are you fine?” Logan demanded, suddenly pulling them both back to their feet before he started running his hands all over her. Marie knew he was only checking for broken bones, or other tender spots but she blushed and squirmed uncomfortably regardless. Trying to fend him off, worried he would discover a few other things, like how much she enjoyed the feeling of his large strong hands running over her body.

“I’m fine Logan, just peachy, “ she assured him dismissively, even as she was drawn bodily back toward him.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pressing a kiss to her temple as he began to guide her back around the pool, intent on getting them out of the area as soon as possible. They paused to check on Jean who, though still exhausted, was physically unharmed.

“Alright, let’s get back to the jet before these retards get brave again,” Logan prompted, after sticking his head out of the pool-yard gate to check the coast was clear. He had dropped the arm around Marie’s shoulders but was keeping a firm grip on her hand, apparently not willing to risk her going anywhere without him.

“You’re fucking kidding me!” Logan snapped, after boarding the jet, only to find Scott was no longer on board waiting for them.

“You two stay here, we’ll go find him,” Ororo said with a sigh, Scott certainly wasn’t acting like himself right now and it was bizarre.

“Why don’t Logan and I go,” Jean suggested, “I’ll get his attention and Logan can find him and get us both back if anything goes wrong,” she pointed out placatingly to the other women when they tried to object.

“That is a good plan,” Logan replied, though grudgingly. He placed Marie in a seat, kissed her gloved hand, and implored her to stay, and for both the other women to keep the ramp locked tight in the hopes they didn’t attract attention.

“We’ll be fine Logan,” Ororo replied, sharing a smirking look with Jean before the other woman turned to follow Logan back outside.

Logan quickly picked up Scott’s trail, and lead the pair back toward town at a brisk pace. He was grumbling to himself almost the entire way, a fact Jean didn’t bring up once, though she did smile serenely to herself. She had always known Logan was more attached to the young girl, now a young woman, they had just left behind than he would ever admit. She had even discussed it with Charles once, why Logan was so standoffish even with people he liked. Charles had found the subject amusing, telling her that was simply Logan’s nature, a self protective instinct. It seemed he was finally done hiding behind self-preservation where the young woman was concerned.

“How is Scott?” Jean asked suddenly, as she noted they were now heading directly for what appeared to be a bar.

“He watched his fiancée die, how do you think he is?” Logan snapped gruffly. “He’s being more of a pain in the ass than usual,” he added, “He’s hurting, he didn’t believe us when we told him about Rogue’s phone call and that we were going you pick you guys up, when you weren’t waiting for us where Rogue said you’d meet us he decided it a was a trap or a decoy and packed an even bigger sad, that’s why he wasn’t with us. We told him to damn well stay put though, just what we need right now is him attracting those fucking freaks again.”

As he finished his muttered tirade he pulled open the bar door, holding out a hand to stop Jean for a moment. “Stay close, this place is rough,” Logan warned, before he let her through the door a step ahead of him.

They scanned the room quickly, both spotting an unusually tousled head of hair that belonged to Scott Summers. He was sitting at the bar, a pyramid of shot glasses in front of him.

“Great, he’s fucking plastered,” Logan grumbled some more, making his way over to the man.

“Scooter, time to go,” Logan commented, clapping him on the shoulder, which caused his hand to slip where he was adding another glass to his stack and send the whole lot of them tumbling down.

“Fuck off Logan,” Scott snapped in response.

“Get a load of this guy, seems to think I was giving him a choice,” Logan quipped to Jean, though before he could make any move to drag the other man out of his seat Jean laid a hand on his arm.

“Let me try,” she suggested, before sliding in beside Scott to lean against the bar.

“Hey stranger, haven’t seen this guy in a long while,” Jean commented with a smile. She couldn’t see but she could sense Scott’s disbelief at what he was hearing, even as he refused to look directly at her. “If I recall correctly, the last time I saw this guy was about seven years ago, when I was on a date with Steven, and this poor, sorry looking young man just happened to be at the same club, getting toasted, took me a while to get him to crack too that time, something about the girl he was in love with was going out with someone else because he was too much of a coward to tell her he was in love with her,” Jean teasingly shared, watching with a smirk as Scott’s head slowly lifted and his eyes met hers through his glasses.

“Heh... great, now I’m fucking hallucinating,” Scott muttered, before grabbing a fresh shot.

Logan, who had been watching the other patrons around them for signs of trouble, suddenly turned around. “We don’t have time for this, times up for the nice way, One-eye, we’re leaving,” he demanded, pulling Scott off his stool.

“Fuck you, Logan,” Scott snapped in return, drunkenly trying to extract himself from Logan’s grasp.

“Sorry bub, you’re not my type,” Logan quipped, “And that wasn’t a request, either you walk out of here under your own power or I haul your ass out, trouble’s coming and we’ve all seen enough of that for one day,” Logan told him matter of factly.

Before Scott could do more than open his mouth to say something snarky again Logan smacked him one, carefully, knocking him out, before catching him and hoisting him over his shoulder.

“Sorry kid, who would have ever known you were more annoying without the stick up your ass, and drunk to boot, abso-fucking-lutely amazing,” Logan grunted, as he headed for the door, motioning for Jean to stay close.

Jean noticed, as they headed out, that several people in the room were watching them very closely, and not in a nice way. One, who shot her a dirty look, was on a cell phone; if she had to guess, calling in back up.

In short order they were back at the abandoned farmhouse where the jet was set down. Both watching warily as they walked, as more and more people and pick up trucks began to tail them less than discreetly. When they were finally safely on board, Logan realised they had a problem, not only was Scott still out cold but as drunk as he was he wouldn’t be any help piloting anyway.

“Ro, can you fly this thing alone?” Logan asked, as Jean set about fussing over Scott as she strapped him down to an emergency gurney.

“Not completely, I’ll need someone to push a few buttons here and there, maybe Rogue would like to help?” she suggested, smiling at Marie.

“No!” Marie immediately declared, “No way, no how, I’ve fucked up enough trying to fly this thing already.”

“Nonsense, you handled the jet very well, and single handedly,” Jean praised her as she straightened up. “But it’s okay, you’re still stressed, I can help Ororo, and then at a later date we can give you some real flying lessons,” she said, Ororo nodding along in agreement.

“We’ll only be able to do that if we get out of here very soon,” Logan interrupted, watching the growing crowd of locals closing in around them.

Jean and Ororo quickly jumped to work, strapping themselves in and beginning the launch sequence. Logan started to move away from the window when Marie stepped up beside him. Without conscious thought, he reflexively reached out and wrapped his arms around her.

“Don’t want you disappearing on me again,” Logan teased, as he rested his forehead against the crown of her head. “What's wrong darlin?” he murmured a moment later, picking up the sudden increase of salt that told him she was crying.

“I know these people,” Marie whispered, “Those boys over there I went to school with, that man over there, I babysat his daughter, that lady is my old elementary school teacher, that man owns an ice-cream parlor that I worked at one summer... and that’s my dad. They wanted to kill me. When I left I knew I made people uncomfortable, I understand that, I can even accept that but they tried to *kill me*, my own parents turned me over to them,” she sobbed.

“Well, in truth it was your dad, your mom didn’t support that,” Logan revealed, hoping that would offer her a bit of comfort no matter how insignificant.

“How do you know?” Marie asked, equal parts surprised and confused.

“When you two didn’t show we went looking for you, found where you got grabbed and backtracked to where you had been hiding out, interrupted an argument between your parents,” Logan replied with a shrug, glaring at the man out the window who had threatened Marie and was responsible for her tears; he really wished he had hit him harder.

“Is that what happened to daddy’s face,” Marie sniggered in spite of her tears. “Thank you Logan,” she replied, turning to press a kiss to his whiskered jaw before she smiled up at him.

“I told you darlin, I’ll take care of you, that is a never-ending promise,” Logan explained, before tugging her away from the window as the jet began to roar, and Ororo called out for them to sit.

“Jean... Jean!” Ororo called, rousing her slumbering co-pilot. “We’re about to land, can you open the garage door,” she instructed.

“Sure...” Jean replied around a yawn.

Within minutes they were landed, the jet powering down as the basketball court slid back into place above them. Logan glanced back at Scott, still unconscious, probably more from the alcohol at this point than Logan’s punch. He queried with Jean where she wanted him, thinking it would be a bit of a dick move to leave him behind.

“Could you take him up to our room?” Jean asked, yawning again. “He’s going to be fun when he wakes up, I don’t think he’s had a hangover in years,” she snorted in amusement, Ro joining in her giggles.

“Sure, Rogue, you drag Jean upstairs will you,” he teased, when Jean tried to stand up out of her seat and almost fell flat on her face.

With much exhausted feminine giggling the pair followed him off the jet, leaning on each other to hold themselves more or less upright. Ororo’s voice following them, letting them know she would give the Professor an update as soon as she was done securing the jet, so they could all go straight to bed.

“You sure you want him on the bed? I could leave him on the couch, hell in his condition the bathtub will probably be... less messy,” Logan suggested, brow cocked sceptically.

“The bed please Logan,” Jean repeated with a tolerant smile, turning back the covers.

“Suit yourself,” Logan muttered, dumping the other man unceremoniously off his shoulder onto the bed. “Night Jean,” he added, immediately turning and heading out of the room, scooping Marie – who had been leaning tiredly against the doorframe – into his arms as he went. He made his way a few rooms down the hallway, before ducking through his own bedroom door.

Marie opened her eyes when she felt herself being laid down on cool sheets, she paused, and looked around.

“Um, this is your room,” she murmured uncertainly.

“Yep,” Logan confirmed, as he gently began to undress her.

“W-why did you bring me to your room?” she asked in confusion.

“You really think I’m going to let you out of my sight after a stunt like that,” Logan asked with a chuckle. Nothing more was said for a moment, until Logan got down to stripping her of her bra, which would have left her in just her panties and socks.

“Logan!” Marie exclaimed, clamping her arms over her chest, even as he slipped the article away from her skin, leaving the straps caught over her elbows.

“What? I thought chicks didn’t even like wearing those, can’t be any more comfortable sleeping in them,” Logan commented, as if it was perfectly normal for her to be sitting there, near naked, in his bed. He held out one of his thick flannel button downs for her, instructing her to lose the bra already and put the shirt on.

Marie slid the more covering shirt on, still confused as to why she was here, while she watched Logan strip down. Her cheeks turned pink when he dropped his jeans, and confirmed what she already knew from his memories, before he tugged on sweatpants, and a t-shirt.

“You like sleeping with socks on, right?” Logan confirmed.

“Yeah... how did you know that?” Marie asked in surprise.

Logan cocked his head in his own confusion before he replied, “I don’t know, just seemed like something you would like.”

Without warning Logan rolled onto the bed, tugging Marie down to lie beside him. “Sleep darlin, you’re exhausted, and you’re going to need plenty of rest so you’re ready to harass the shit out of hungover Cyclops with me in the morning,” Logan murmured, pressing a kiss to Marie’s head.

Marie rolled over, throwing one arm across Logan’s broad chest as her head came to rest on his t-shirt covered pec, his heart thumping reassuringly under her ear. Who cared why she was here, she wasn’t complaining about the locale, no sir. With a smile she drifted off to sleep, finally knowing she was right, real life was so much better than her fantasies.

Slowly Marie began to drift to consciousness. She was toasty warm, wrapped up in soft cotton sheets, and comforting strong arms. There was a broad chest pressed up against her back, a strong arm around her waist, a solid thigh lying against hers, a calf over her own like it was hugging her leg. Something was pressing almost uncomfortably into her butt, and there were lips moving against her neck, kissing and nipping her teasingly through her hair.

Eyes popping open suddenly, she winced at the bright sunshine streaming in the window, directly into her face.

“God... why do you have a room on the morning side of the house?” she grumbled, as she lifted a hand to her face to rub at her tired eyes. “Uh... what are you doing?” she asked a moment later, when Logan simply chuckled as he continued to touch her. His hand that was at her waist sliding up to cup her breast, tweaking her nipple as he massaged the soft mound.

“Mm, what does it feel like?” he teased, chuckling when she stifled a moan badly.

“Like you’re doing something very, very goodly bad,” Marie mumbled, trying to extract herself from his grasp.

“Oh no you don’t,” Logan growled, pulling her closer and holding her tighter. “I told you last night I wasn’t letting you out of my sight, you going to try and make a liar out of me?” he murmured with a chuckle.

“Logan, there’s keeping an eye on me, and then there’s... this,” she stated in response, gesturing to their positioning in the bed. “What is this?” she demanded.

“A very good morning,” Logan purred in response, making sure every part of himself was pressed up against every part of her he could physically reach. “Hell, if I’d known waking up like this felt so good I’d have kept more women around until morning,” he teased, chuckling when she blushed and tried to wriggle out of his grip again.

“Relax, I’m joking, sort of, you see, right about the time just before you pulled your goddamn insane stunt, I’d had an epiphany... just as I was thanking all that was good in the world that you were right there by my side, safe, you just disappeared right in front of me; the best thing that ever happened to me, the person who made this life I live now hold some meaning... gone, in the blink of an eye...”

He wasn’t laughing or teasing anymore, and Marie suddenly couldn’t breathe as she found her attention captivated, by the beautiful green and gold flecked hazel eyes that were locked onto hers.

“I watched that wall of water close over your head and I felt like my soul got torn in two, I thought you were gone, and I wanted to go with you...” he whispered, as he raised a hand to stroke through her hair, using it as a barrier to cup her cheek.

Marie tried to brush him off, not willing to risk her heart believing what he was implying. “Yeah, I should have thought about how I was getting Jean back—” he cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

“I didn’t give a flying fuck about Jean, hell it was almost sixteen hours before I even remembered she had been down there too. It was you Marie, it was you I wanted, I wanted you to still be alive, I wanted to find you, and hold you, and never let you go... it’s you I love, Marie,” he stated, softly but firmly. “I’d tried not to let myself think about you like that, telling myself it was wrong, you were too young, too pretty... too good for a guy like me... as soon as I thought you were lost though, I realised what an idiot I had been. I love you, and I’m not wasting this second chance I’ve been given, we’ve been given,” he finished, shifting his thumb to brush away a tear that leaked from her flooded eyes.

“Really?” was all she could say in response.

“Really,” Logan replied, before he lifted up his thin cotton sheet, draping it over the bottom half of her face, and kissed her softly.

Their kiss quickly grew in intensity, until their hands joined in, moving over each other’s bodies, exploring and giving pleasure. It wasn’t until Logan’s firm fingers found their way under the flannel she was wearing, and began to rub against her panty covered crotch insistently, sending jolts of pleasure through her body that Marie, somehow, managed to think clear enough to hit the brakes.

“Logan... Logan stop!” she insisted, when trying to push him away didn’t work.

“No,” Logan murmured, trying to catch her lips again.

“Logan we can’t do this,” Marie declared more forcefully, turning her head away pointedly.

“What? Why not?” Logan demanded, equal parts annoyed and worried. “You feel the same way too don’t you?” he asked nervously.

“Yes, yes Logan I do, I’ve loved you since the minute you promised to take care of me on the train... but I never in a million years thought you would ever return my feelings, and, well, I kind of have a boyfriend, I have to break up with him first,” Marie stated.

“You’re going to break up with him?” Logan asked, almost sounding surprised.

“Of course, I’m not going to cheat,” she scoffed in return.

“So you’re going to be mine, all mine,” Logan purred, rolling over until he was kneeling on all fours over the top of her.

“Mmhmm, all yours,” Marie replied, smiling up at the man above her. He was kissing her again a split second later, and if Marie had been able to breathe she would have laughed.

“You can break up with the Icepop later,” Logan muttered, as he began to touch her again.

“Uh uh, no, no Logan, I’m not going to be a cheater, I’m breaking up with him first,” Marie insisted, pushing him away again. This time she did giggle, when Logan growled in irritation, a sound that promptly rolled into a pitiful whine. “Stop being such a baby,” she admonished, taking the opportunity to slip out of bed and quickly grab for her clothes.

She slid the dirty clothes on hurriedly, clothes she had already been wearing for a few days by this point. Before she flashed Logan a smile and turned to dart out the door. He was faster though, and caught her around the waist, turning her around as he pressed her up against the wall.

“How long is this going to take?” Logan murmured against her lips, as he kissed her quickly and repeatedly.

“Don’t know, I’m going to have a shower first, then breakfast because I am starving – I didn’t eat anything yesterday, and before that only had those gross MRE’s – then I’ll have to find Bobby. Let’s pencil in lunchtime to meet up for an update, hmm?” she proposed.

“Or you could shower here... I could bring you breakfast in bed... with a side order of ex-boyfriend for the let down,” Logan suggested, only partially seriously.

“Nope, you probably also owe me a date or two too,” Marie teased, unwrapping herself from Logan’s grasp again. With a final peck on his whiskered cheek, she slipped out the door, and walked back to her own room, feeling Logan’s eyes on her until she turned the corner of the hallway.

After spending close to an hour getting herself ready for the day, at least half of that spent in the shower under the apparently endless supply of hot water, Marie finally made her way down to the kitchen in search of food.

She glanced longingly at the sausages and eggs, momentarily considering cooking herself breakfast, before deciding she was too hungry to wait that long. Cereal, topped with fruit and yogurt was what she ended up filling her bowl with. Two servings later she decided she was full, and took a coffee with her outside to enjoy some sunshine and time to relax.

After her ordeal yesterday it felt nice to be able to let everything go. She didn’t have to hide here, and no one was going to try and kill her.

Relaxing though seemed to kick her brain into gear, and before long she found herself reminiscing on all the people who had tried to kill her. She had explained to Logan the day before how she knew some of them, but she had known many more. The hardest to see had been Cody, the boy she had put in a coma with her first kiss. He had glared at her with such hatred, a stark contrast to how his voice had always been soft, comforting, though simultaneously confused, in her head. She wished she had gotten a chance to speak to him, to tell him she was sorry, and she hadn’t meant it.

“Oh my god! Rogue!?” a stunned voice suddenly split the silence, startling her so hard she almost jumped clear out of her seat.

“Is that really you?” Bobby asked, seeming to not believe his own eyes as he rushed toward her, hesitating and flinching as he reached for her.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Marie tried to smile, past the hurt that he wouldn’t even touch her clothed hand.

“But... you’re alive... how? And how did you get here?” Bobby demanded, continuing to gawk at her.

“Oh, well, I touched that new guy, the teleporter, Kurt, and I teleported down to Jean but I didn’t know how to get back onto the plane so, I just thought of a safe place and we teleported there,” Marie explained, “Turned out we ended up back at my old home town, so I called the mansion yesterday, and the X-Men picked us up and brought us back yesterday afternoon, sort of last night.”

“Wait, Je- Dr Grey is back too?” Bobby confirmed.

“Yeah, I think she’s still sleeping though, using her powers to hold back that water, and fix and launch the jet, kind of took a lot out of her. I was pretty wiped too after teleporting across the continent but I had a good night’s sleep last night,” she told him with a grin. She wouldn’t tell him she slept so soundly because she was wrapped up in Logan, he didn’t need to know that.

“Well, um... that’s great, I’m glad you’re safe, and home,” Bobby offered, almost nervously, before he tentatively tried to pull her into an awkward hug. “I’ve been a little lost thinking I lost both my best friends,” Bobby told her with a boyish grin. And now she felt terrible about her plan to break up with him... His best friend ran off to join the enemy, his girlfriend died but then wasn’t dead but broke up with him instead, and none of his other friends were around to help him deal with it.

Logan was going to be tracking her down in a couple of hours though, and she didn’t expect him to wait patiently for her to figure out when the ‘right time’ was to break the boys heart. Better to get it over with quickly.

“Hey um, about that,” she murmured softly, indicating Bobby should sit down, a direction he followed.

“I’m sorry about John, I know he was your friend and that must have hurt to watch him walk away like that...” she paused, unsure how to springboard onto the next point she needed to raise.

“Hey, it’s not so bad, we figured out we work together pretty well as a team,” he butted in to fill the silence.

“Um, yeah, yeah I guess we do... it’s just that... well, I think we work together better as a team of friends, not as girlfriend and boyfriend,” she eventually blurted out.

Bobby sat in stunned silence for a moment. “Oh,” he finally murmured, “And um, when did you think that?” he queried.

“Honestly?” she posed, catching his nod in return. “I’ve been thinking it a while, at first I thought it was just nerves, you know, being close to someone, with my skin, then... when we kissed, at your parents house, it um...”

“Wasn’t what you wanted?” Bobby replied dejectedly.

“It was, kind of like, what I imagine... kissing your brother feels like,” she murmured, blushing bright pink.

“Oh,” was all Bobby replied.

“And, well, when you kissed me you were, sort of, thinking some things, and I just... I don’t think a relationship is going to work out between us, you need someone you can touch, and I understand that, I do, you’re too scared to be comfortable touching me,” she added.

“Oh,” it was Bobby’s turn to blush pink. “You got that when we touched?” he queried guiltily.

“Yeah, and I just want to say, I don’t blame you, my mutation scares me sometimes too, so, I get it,” Marie assured him. “I think we should just be friends from now on,” she repeated.

“I understand,” Bobby replied, “I guess I can live with that. And I’m glad you’re okay, I’m glad everything worked out,” he added, reaching toward her a little less hesitantly to squeeze her gloved hand, though he released it again quickly once he had.

“Hey, while we’ve got the rec room mostly to ourselves why don’t we go and watch a movie?” Bobby suggested hopefully.

“I’m still kind of tired after yesterday, I think I’m actually going to go back to bed for a while,” Marie hedged apologetically.

Thankfully he took her comment at face value, and before much longer rose to leave. He probably accepted her excuse so easily because she genuinely was still tired. With a yawn a few moments later, she rose, and padded back inside, depositing her mug on the counter before dragging herself upstairs, and heading for her own bedroom. She ordinarily shared her room with three roommates but thankfully, for now, had it to herself.

She had just crawled under her covers when a soft knock sounded on her door. She couldn’t be bothered getting up to open it so she just called for whoever it was to come in.

“Hey darlin,” Logan’s voice rumbled comfortingly. “Slight change of plans, Storm and I are heading out to pick up some of the kids who have gotten themselves in trouble, I’m not going to be able to make lunch after all, you get some more sleep and I’ll take you out for dinner instead,” he informed her, after he settled himself down on the bed beside her.

“Sounds like a plan,” Marie murmured, “Be safe,” she instructed, smiling when he chuckled before leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead.

“Yes ma’am,” he acquiesced, then took his leave, closing the door softly behind him, leaving her to fall into dream world.

Marie was digging through her closet trying to find the perfect outfit for dinner with Logan, their first, of hopefully many, dates. So far she had settled on a sheer silk bodysuit, because duh, can’t have a decent date without a bit of friendly groping, right. She had added a dark forest green bra and panties set she had been saving for a special occasion, this definitely counted.

Other than that though, she was stumped. Jeans were too casual, and she wore them most days anyway. All her dresses were long sensible things that didn’t scream sexy. She considered borrowing a mini skirt off Jubilee but just couldn’t get her head around showing off that much skin.

She was so deep in thought she didn’t hear the door silently open, she did hear it latch shut again though. Spinning around she tripped over a pair of shoes on the floor and fell, missing the bed by mere inches and landing with a thud on the rug.

“Ow, you know you could have avoided that by knocking right,” Marie snapped, glaring at her roommate as she rubbed her elbow.

“What did you do to our room?” Jubilee asked in mock shock, taking in the strewn contents of the closet.

“I’m going on a date but I can’t figure out what to wear,” Marie replied, as she picked herself up off the floor.

“Damn girl, you pick the most inconvenient times to go falling in love you know; military attacks the school, everyone flees in terror, insane madman tries to end the world – or at least our part in it – and what’s Rogue-y going to do, just go all gaga over some punk with a death wish,” Jubilee muttered, flopping down on her bed with a yawn.

“First off, thanks for your vote of confidence on the sanity of anyone who might want to date me,” Marie snapped in return, “Second, it’s not ‘some punk’, it’s Logan, and it has to be perfect!”

“Wait... Logan, as in ‘tall, dark and hairy’, as in ‘you look at him the wrong way he’ll aerate your liver’, as in –”

“Yes Jubilee, Logan, the one and only,” Marie interrupted, shooting another glare at her best friend, second best friend, on second thought maybe it was time to reassess her friend group...

“Why’d you have to cut me off then, the next one was a doozy,” Jubilee teased, promptly ducking the pillow that was tossed at her. “All right, all right, I apologise for offending the honour of the great god that is the Wolverine, to make it up to you, I will help you get ready,” she declared, suddenly loosing all traces of weariness and snapping back to attention like an energizer bunny.

“What are you doing?” Marie asked in confusion, as Jubilee began collecting up articles of clothing and tossing them on the bed.

“Look, as usual, you’re overthinking this,” Jubilee stated matter of factly, “This isn’t like going on a cutesy little date to see a movie and maybe get a milkshake like with Bobby, this is Logan, you know what he likes, what makes him comfortable, at best he’ll be taking you to a diner with a clean floor, at worst some grubby bar, so, point of preparation one, dress to your environment. Point of preparation two, you know what Logan likes, you are what Logan likes, dress as yourself, how you feel comfortable, because that’s how he likes you best, right?”

“I guess, but I don’t think sweatpants, a t-shirt, and my fuzzy bunny slippers are going to cut it for a date,” Marie replied with a grin; intentionally exasperating Jubilee was fun after all. All she got back from Jubilee was a glare, before she spun into action again.

“Put these on,” Jubilee directed, tossing a pair of jeans at Marie’s face.

“These aren’t mine,” Marie commented in confusion.

“Don’t worry, they’re clean and they’ll fit you, probably better than they would me thanks to your wonder-ass,” Jubilee grumbled good-naturedly, leaving Marie to try and wriggle into the pants in question. Wriggle she had to, they were pretty darn tight.

“I thought you said I was supposed to be comfortable!” Marie pointed out, as she set to work buttoning up the seven buttons that made up the fly of these jeans; surely they wouldn’t be practical for access at some point, ya know...

Jubilee didn’t reply with words, not straight away, instead she turned the closet door so Marie could see her reflection in the mirror mounted inside.

“Comfortable now?” Jubilee queried with a smirk, when Marie stared at her reflection in open-mouthed shock.

“Is that my ass?” Marie clarified, turning to admire the view; hell, if she was impressed Logan was sure to be.

“Indeed it is, lucky bitch. Now, for the other half, hmm—where are Logan’s tags!?” Jubilee suddenly exclaimed.

“Um, I gave them back to him a couple days ago, the guy who attacked the mansion, Stryker, he was someone from Logan’s past, it seemed like a good idea at the time... I don’t know where they are now,” Marie replied with a shrug, she missed that little bit of metal.

“Hmph, well there goes that idea,” Jubilee murmured, before quickly springing into action again. “This!” she demanded, tossing another item at Marie.

“Jubes! Is this even clothing?” she demanded, turning the article in question around while she tried to figure out how it went on.

“If you wear it, it is,” Jubilee replied sarcastically, taking the garment from her friend and tugging it over her head. Once it was in place, Marie watched her reflection in the mirror as Jubilee stepped behind her, and proceeded to tighten the laces at her back, pulling the deep v-neck open even wider.

The top was white cotton, thin enough that she could see the obvious shadow of her bra through the fabric. It appeared to have been a tank top someone had modified, giving an extra deep v between her breasts – she felt like if she turned around fast enough her boobs would fall out. The laces cinched the underbust and waist, making sure it didn’t move anywhere. Then lower down it flared a little to stretch over her hips, and ended just in time for her denim clad tush to make its presence known.

“I’m going to be freezing,” Marie stated simply, noting the top was sleeveless.

“How cold is it...?” Jubilee murmured thoughtfully, mostly to herself, rushing to the window and throwing it open to stick her head out. “Perfect!” she declared, as she returned in the window, pulling it shut behind her.

Out from under Rogue’s pillow she pulled the red flannel that Rogue kept under there. It was Logan’s, he had been wearing it on the train, when Magneto had attacked them. Marie had found it several days after he had left, presumably it had been collected by the cleaning staff and sent to the laundry and Logan had missed it when he packed. She had claimed it, fully intending to return it to Logan when he came back, of course.

Jubilee slipped the sleeves onto her arms, pulling the front tails of the shirt up to the waist and knotting them. She declared that step perfect, then grabbed a pair of gloves, short soft leather gloves that barely covered Marie’s hands to her wrists. Once she had put the gloves on, Jubilee rolled the sleeves of the flannel up almost to her elbows.

“What if I get a hole in the bodysuit sleeve!” Marie declared worriedly.

“Don’t worry about it, Logan’s going to be with you, he won’t let anything happen to you,” Jubilee shrugged off her concern. “Shoes!” Jubes suddenly declared, slapping her forehead dramatically before scurrying out of the room, calling back over the shoulder that she would be right back.

“Who did you steal those from?” Marie almost groaned, not catching sight of more than black leather as Jubilee rushed back into the room.

“They’re Theresa’s but she doesn’t like them – not slutty enough for her –“ Jubilee stage whispered, before knocking Rogue onto her butt on the bed by picking up one of the legs she had been standing on. “She won’t mind if you borrow them,” Jubes assured her, sliding the boot onto her foot and zipping it up.

Rogue breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the boot, it was indeed not slutty, quite nice actually. A sturdy four inch, or so, heel, rounded toe, a delicate pattern carved into the leather, and laces that ran up the front. They completed her outfit quite nicely, so nicely she congratulated Jubilee on a job well done.

Jubilee was just finishing curling Marie’s white bangs, after putting her hair part up-part down with some simple french twists, when a knock sounded on the bedroom door. Marie felt a sudden sickening lurch in her stomach as she realized that was probably Logan.

“You decent darlin?” Logan called through the door, clearly waiting for a response before he opened the door.

“Um, yeah, come in,” Marie responded, hoping her voice didn’t sound as shaky to him as it felt coming out of her.

“Hey, you ready for...” Logan started to say, trailing off when he saw the young woman standing before him.

“Is this okay? I wasn’t sure where we were going...” Marie murmured nervously, simultaneously self-conscious and ecstatic at Logan’s apparently dumbfounded reaction.

“Uh, um, y- you look fine,” Logan eventually stuttered, coughing a little as he tried to get the growl out of his throat.

“Thanks, should we go now?” Marie continued, moving to grab her purse, only to have Logan catch her hand instead.

“Come on,” he said, hauling her out of the room without a second thought.

Dinner was nice. Logan took her to a quiet steakhouse, and they were seated discreetly at a table for two in a shadowed corner, their table lit mostly by candle light. After dinner they even danced a little to the music – some sort of fusion of jazz and country – coming from the old jukebox in the corner.

It wasn’t until they were on their way home that Logan’s mood seemed to shift. Suddenly becoming pensive and thoughtful, his thumb massaged her hand through their gloves as he drove. Until suddenly he pulled onto the shoulder of the highway and shut off the engine. For a moment he sat in silence, seeming to mull over what or how he wanted to speak. Eventually he began softly, haltingly, clearly unusually nervous.

“The first time I saw you... I knew you were special, you walked into that shithole and you brought in with you... peace... like the first snowfall of winter, the first flower of spring, the stillness of a clearing in the forest in the middle of summer... at first that made me want to grab hold of you and never let you go... I craved something different, softness, sweetness... then that asshole with the knife charged in, and I heard your scream, and I smelled your fear, and even though I recognized it was fear for me, not fear of me, I realised how much of an asshole I was for wanting to tarnish you, your innocence and light with my life, with my darkness, and cynicism, and... well just me in general—”

“Logan, that’s not—” Marie tried to interject.

“Hush, let me finish, before I chicken out and do something stupid like take off again,” Logan cut her off, with a lopsided grin shot at her, before he moved his eyes back to where he was clutching her hand tightly.

“I tried to leave you behind but I guess fate, God, the universe – hell if I know what exactly – had other ideas... even when you were in my truck I was still sticking to my guns, I couldn’t leave you behind in the snow but I could just as easy leave you at the next town, or the next gas station. When I went flying through the windshield of the camper you know what the one thought that went through my mind was?” he asked softly.

“That maybe you should have taken my auto safety advice and put your seatbelt on?” Marie teased cheekily.

“Smart-ass,” Logan murmured, shooting her another grin before he continued. “It was about you though, the one thought that kept playing through my head was, ‘she has to be alright’, before I’d even hit the ground I knew there was no way I would be able to leave you behind, some part of me was already desperately clinging to you. When I woke up in the lab and you weren’t there I was terrified, not for me but for you, were you not there because you were—in some morgue somewhere, had I failed to protect you... I watched you all day after I got out, after the Professor explained to me what the hell was going on at least. Even though I knew you were safe, I still couldn’t leave you, I know the Prof thought I stayed because of Magneto – they thought he was after me to start with – but it wasn’t worry for me, it was all you.

“When I woke up that night with you on my claws... I just about died when I realised I hurt you, you were as good as dead and I did that to you... when I woke up, and the Professor told me what you had done, I was so proud of you, even though I was still disgusted with myself. I was going to leave straight away, I’d proved to myself I wasn’t any good for you, but then you were gone and I had to find you, I couldn’t go without knowing I had left you safe... when I realised Magneto was actually after you... the one person I couldn’t protect you from...

“I have never been so terrified ever in my life as I was in just the few hours you were missing... and when I finally found you... and when your skin wouldn’t work to start with... ... After I woke up, and I was told it worked, you were alive, the Professor and Jean explained to me how your mutation worked, they told me you got a piece of me in your head... I was upset about that, I didn’t want my darkness tarnishing you, you didn’t need my bullshit in your head... thankfully you seemed to settle again once I was awake, my ‘charming personality traits’ – as Jean termed it – seemed to die off, I hoped the piece of me in your head would too, but, there was something else... something I didn’t tell anyone...

“See, I got a little piece of you in my head too,” Logan admitted, his eyes shifting to her face to gauge her reaction. “I knew how you felt about me, that you’d felt much the same about me, when you first saw me, as I felt about you... I knew you were a little more than the ‘little taken with me’ Jean revealed. I'll admit, that scared the hell out of me... mostly because I wanted the same things you did... I wanted the sweet, soft, gentle companionship, I wanted someone who wasn’t afraid of me, who didn’t shy away when I got close, I wanted someone to hold – like I held you on the train – with no further expectations than just comfort... so I ran, took the first opportunity for escape, like the coward I was.

“I tried to tell myself I was doing what was best for you, protecting you, from me, the part of me that wanted to hoard you away only for me... and then that little piece of you inside me started to fade, and I realised I couldn’t live without you in my life in some way. I figured I had a chance, to be the good guy, to be the hero you had tried to convince me I was. I still wasn’t comfortable with the idea of being—that intimate, with anyone, let alone you... hell I felt like the world’s biggest pervert the first time I dreamed about you, and we didn’t even do anything... much. So, that’s why I wasn’t bothered when I turned up and you introduced me to your boyfriend, I figured you’d got over me but you still wanted to be friends, I thought that was good, I thought that would be enough, and it was... until I thought I’d lost you for good.

“That was when I realised what an idiot I’d been, wasting precious time I had with you on—sensibilities, worrying about what other people would think, worrying about all the ways I could fuck up, instead of trying not to... I want to try, I know you’re young, and neither of us is really experienced with—relationships, but I promise I’ll try, to be the good guy, to be your hero,” Logan finished in barely a murmur, bringing her gloved hand to his lips and placing a kiss on her knuckles.

Marie smiled, even as a tear slipped past her lashes. “You’ll always be my hero, and you already are a good guy, and I love you so much... I tried to bury it, I thought- thought you might be... I don’t know- embarrassed by me, see me as some kind of obligation, a burden, I know I just kind of threw myself into your life uninvited but I had hoped you would come back into my life somehow, some way. I’m glad I get to show you how much I love you now,” she finished, leaning forward to press her lips briefly against his. Breaking away when she felt her skin start to tingle, she gasped in surprise when Logan dove back for another kiss, and another. Barely breaking contact each time her skin flared but it was enough to start the clock again, and again, and again.

“Let’s move this into the backseat?” Marie suggested cheekily, with a quirk of her brow and a mischievous twinkle in her eye, when they finally broke apart to both catch their breath.

“Marie!” Logan exclaimed in mock shock. “What part of ‘I’m trying to be the good guy’ did you miss? I’m not having you for the first time in the back of some car, like a teenage prick with too many hormones and not enough brain cells. Put your seatbelt back on,” he added, as he pushed her back into her seat and restarted the engine.

They pulled into the parking lot of a relatively upscale hotel not too much later, and they didn’t return to the mansion for several days...

The End :)

Sorry I had to load it all in Chapter Notes again; the Story Text box isn't working properly again.